By: Anthony Zangrillo
As I walked into the screening theatre for Labor Day, I was greeted by a host handing out promotional pocket tissues, letting me know that this movie was “a real tear-jerker.” Provided Jason Reitman’s history of tackling smart, self-aware comedies (Juno, Young Adult), I found it odd to be expecting a lachrymose drama of any sorts. What resulted was a mature product that strives to tug at our heartsrings through forbidden relationships, but falls just short of dragging us into the deep end within our pools of emotions.
For his fifth feature length film, Oscar-nominated director Jason Reitman veers off into a slightly different direction. Straying from his usual character studies featuring quirky, yet appealing protagonists (Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air), Labor Day instead puts the scope on the unusual three-way relationship between a mother, her son, and an escaped convict. Many of Reitman’s past works have put a heavy emphasis on familial structures and love, though none rely on the theme nearly as much as this latest film.
Largely told retrospectively by an older Henry (voiced by Tobey Maguire), the film is set right around Labor Day weekend in the summer of 1987. Thirteen-year-old Henry (Gattlin Griffith) lives alone in a quaint New England town with his anxiety-plagued mother, Adele (Kate Winslet). Though her condition is largely unexplained in the beginning, her agoraphobia has clearly consumed her; even basic tasks such as shopping for clothes or visiting the bank require extreme mental preparation. Due to her reclusive nature, Henry has been forced to mature far quicker than his peers, as he is unofficially given the title of the “man of the household.” However, this fragile dynamic is put to the test when a bloody and injured Frank (Josh Brolin) approach them, asking for their help. Upon realizing that the intimidating man will not take no for an answer, Adele and Henry reluctantly agree to drive him back to their house. Once safe, Frank reveals that he is a recently escaped ex-convict in the midst of being hunted, setting forth a long weekend that the mother and son will never forget.
Much of the two adult lead characters’ pasts are shrouded in mystery in the earlier stages. Reitman cleverly discloses very little about their personalities in writing, leaving much of the work to Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet’s subtle interactions and line deliveries. The audience is left trying to evaluate the mysterious characters of Frank and Adele for themselves. Reitman does a brilliant job of riding these ambiguities, portraying a constant sense of risk and danger with their continued involvement. Through the lack of dramatic irony regarding their situation, we experience in real-time the results of this unorthodox relationship. Short flashback scenes of their pasts are interspersed throughout the movie, through which Reitman slowly reveals the defining moments that have molded these characters to who they are.
Casting is handled very well, from the leading roles within the family all the way to the smaller roles of neighbors and townsmen (even J.K. Simmons makes a trademark appearance). Nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, Kate Winslet deftly demonstrates a strong command over her weak, fragile character, while Josh Brolin plays a convincing foil character that maintains a controlled composure in spite of trying times. Young actor Gattlin Griffith (Changeling, Green Lantern) gets plenty of well-deserved screentime by possessing an acute awareness to detail, sometimes saying the most within a conversation in a silent, close-up. The past and future selves of these main characters are handled delicately and accurately, with Tobey Maguire’s periodical narration remaining a believable voice for the older Henry throughout the entire film.
Unfortunately, these personal performances are the only real highlights, with the rest of the film ending up a bit bland. The film far too often relies on cliché “emotional” lines, commonly found in romantic coming-of-age films, which elicited quite a few unintentional chuckles in the audience. Despite jumping around in time through frequent flashbacks, the overall pacing of the film still feels a bit slow, choosing to focus more on extraneous subplots (young Henry’s romantic[?] endeavors) rather than the development of the three-way relationship. The charming, yet boring fictitious town of Holton Mills, NH provided a picturesque setting, though some of its banalities may have rubbed off on the story arc.
Considering Jason Reitman’s impressive directing résumé thus far, this film may fall a bit short of expectations. The sharp, edgy directing style of his more comedic dramas is lost, and has instead been replaced with a slower-moving product that meticulously explores human emotion. However, his uncanny ability to portray genuine, albeit unconventional, human experiences still remains. With a departure from his usual style and genre, I eagerly await what Jason Reitman’s got in store for the near future. The Motion Picture Club gives Labor Day a 7/10.
