From the director of Up in the Air, Young Adult, and Juno comes Labor Day. This drama film adapted and directed by Jason Reitman, and based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard. The film centres on Adele and Henry, a mother and son duo, who help a wounded, frightening man by offering him a ride. Eventually, they learn about his dangerous past and hatch plans to escape from him.
In September 2009, it was announced that Reitman was working on a screenplay, based on Joyce Maynard's novel. Reitman had Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in mind for the lead roles. Reitman wanted to make the film right after his 2009 film Up in the Air, but due to Winslet's scheduling conflicts, he chose to direct Young Adult first. Reitman and Brolin had to wait for Winslet for over a year to begin shooting. In June 2011, it was revealed that Winslet and Brolin had joined the cast of the film. By mid June 2012, Gattlin Griffith, Clark Gregg, Brooke Smith, James Van Der Beek, J. K. Simmons, Maika Monroe, Lucas Hedges, Tobey Maguire, and Dylan Minnette rounded out the film's cast. At the same, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in mid August. Filming took place throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Reitman prepared his cast and crew by screening Stand by Me (1986), Running on Empty (1988), The Tree of Life (2011), The Night of the Hunter (1955) and Body Heat (1981), films he considered relevant to the film itself.
The film stars Winslet, Brolin, Griffith, Gregg, Smith, Van Der Beek, Simmons, Monroe, Hedges, Maguire, and Minnette. Brolin and Winslet owns their roles in the way first-rate film stars can, so infusing the character with their own personas that everything he does seems natural and right. The timing in their scenes is like splendid tennis.
Led by charismatic performances by its two leads, Reitman delivers a smart blend of drama and emotion with just enough edge for mainstream audiences. It's a rare and sparkling gem of a film, directed by Reitman with the polish of a master. The film makes it look easy. Not just in its casual and apparently effortless excellence, but in its ability to blend entertainment and insight, drama, reality and poignancy, things that are difficult by themselves but a whole lot harder in combination. This film does all that and never seems to break a sweat. It's tough to capture an era when it no longer exists, yet the film does so brilliantly, with humanity. Reitman emerges as a modern-day Frank Capra, capturing the nation's anxieties and culture of resilience. It touches on larger themes of family and gender dynamics, and adolescent innocence as a crutch. Though, the film is an assertively, and unapologetically, tidy package, from its use of romance to instill some drama, and the nostalgic Americana score that Mr. Reitman needlessly overuses. But ultimately, it's really an expertly done character study that's a dramatic change of pace from director Reitman's previous films.
Led by charismatic performances by its two leads, Reitman delivers a smart blend of drama and emotion with just enough edge for mainstream audiences. It's a rare and sparkling gem of a film, directed by Reitman with the polish of a master. The film makes it look easy. Not just in its casual and apparently effortless excellence, but in its ability to blend entertainment and insight, drama, reality and poignancy, things that are difficult by themselves but a whole lot harder in combination. This film does all that and never seems to break a sweat. It's tough to capture an era when it no longer exists, yet the film does so brilliantly, with humanity. Reitman emerges as a modern-day Frank Capra, capturing the nation's anxieties and culture of resilience. It touches on larger themes of family and gender dynamics, and adolescent innocence as a crutch. Though, the film is an assertively, and unapologetically, tidy package, from its use of romance to instill some drama, and the nostalgic Americana score that Mr. Reitman needlessly overuses. But ultimately, it's really an expertly done character study that's a dramatic change of pace from director Reitman's previous films.
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