Review of Labor Day (2013) by Lionking2007 — 07 Feb 2014

This review is more related to the characters and the theme of the movie which I found it quite interesting. I am taking the liberty of looking at the roles of the characters from my own perspective rather than the movie-maker's. I see three main characters in this movie- Adele, Frank (escaped convict) and Gerald (ex-husband). Even though the movie-makers may have wanted us to focus more on the first two but I see all 3 of them equally prominent.

Adele is a dreamer. Apparently she did not go along well with her ex-husband, most likely because of her idealistic demands from the relationship; therefore she ends up living an isolated life filled with hardships and lack of protection. Apparently, she takes the legal custody of her son and gives him his share of whatever she chose for herself. The most disturbing thing about her character is the fact that she falls for an escaped convict who has not even talked about his past to her. Interestingly, Frank never reveals to her under what circumstances he gets his sentence, nor does she make any serious attempt to dig into his past but allows herself to be drifted in to a romantic world just because she is impressed by his household chores and man's jobs. What's worse is the fact that she lets her son grow in his company as well and decides to move to another country and live life of an outlaw and chooses the same for her son as well. She doesn't seem to care much about her son's schooling as well. It may look romantic if you are a teenager but it's just so hard to swallow if you are a parent. And, people who think that going to Canada is just like crossing the state line need to know that one cannot cross international border without a passport, and thus without revealing your true identity. That may be actually a flaw in the movie itself.

Frank is an honest man, a victim of circumstance. Wrongfully convicted of something he never did or intended to do. There are many prisoners in the USA who are serving punishments for the crimes they never did. He is a caring guy and brings joy to people around him. He gets his reward at the end of his sentence- company of a woman who he loves.

Gerald is a responsible father and a responsible husband and believer of long lasting relationships. It may seem initially that he is flamboyant because he made an affair with his secretary. But the fact that he ends up marrying her and raising a family with her plus taking care of the children that she brought along with her from her previous marriage, more than clears Gerald's image. He admits to his son that he probably wasn't the 'ideal guy' his mother had dreamt of. So he broke up and got in to a more doable relationship. He plays his role as father well. He takes Henry out with the rest of his family every weekend. He is keen to know who his ex-wife is hanging out with for the sake of his son, and is always there for his son at all the milestones of his life. Gerald is more realistic than emotional and is far happier in his not so complicated world than Adele.