Labor Day (2013)

Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited.

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writers:

Jason Reitman (screenplay), Joyce Maynard (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Winslet	...	Adele
Josh Brolin	...	Frank
Gattlin Griffith	...	Henry
Tobey Maguire	...	Adult Henry
Tom Lipinski	...	Young Frank
Maika Monroe	...	Mandy
Clark Gregg	...	Gerald
James Van Der Beek	...	Officer Treadwell
J.K. Simmons	...	Mr. Jervis
Brooke Smith	...	Evelyn
Brighid Fleming	...	Eleanor
Alexie Gilmore	...	Marjorie
Lucas Hedges	...	Richard
Micah Fowler	...	Barry
Chandra Thomas	...	Bank Teller

Storyline

A depressed mother's husband has left her for she could not bear a second child. Living alone with her only son, she has an unlikely meeting with an injured escaped convict, and reluctantly takes him into her own care. The man proves to be better than his criminal image as the three bond over Labor Day weekend. The only problem? Everyone in town is looking for him.

---

Plot Keywords:

tied to a chair | escaped convict | neighbor | baseball | boy in a wheelchair | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, brief violence and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jason Reitman prepared his cast and crew by screening them films he considered relevant to the project. These included Stand by Me (1986), Running on Empty (1988), The Tree of Life (2011), The Night of the Hunter (1955) and Body Heat (1981).

---

Goofs

In the movie, young Henry has brown eyes but in the last few scenes, Henry has blue eyes.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Adult Henry: It was just the two of us after my father left. She said I should count the baby he had with his new wife Marjorie as part of my family too. Plus Richard, Marjorie's son. For the most part my mother never mentioned my father, or the woman he was married to now.

---

Connections

References Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

---

Soundtracks

I'm Going Home
Written by Arlo Guthrie
Performed by Arlo Guthrie
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

An unexpected but pleasant movie to watch

There is no doubt about the implausibility of a lonely depressed Mother and her Son being picked up by a man in a grocery store (hardly a supermarket)who turns out to be an escaped convict on the run.

The fact is that the two characters both in terms of real time acting and in terms of the story line blended and bonded well in my personal view and there is nothing appropriate in trivialising a movie which reaches deep inside our hearts and brings more than a few tears to our eyes while watching it as they both seek to re-discover love and a righteous way to live their life.

There are too many films made nowadays focused on action and violence riddled with bad language, perverseness and inappropriate sexuality.

This film is well directed, the screenplay story is entirely logical in the circumstances, the acting does not disappoint and the ending of the film was well considered.

I am not altogether sure of the implied reference to 'Labor Day' in the title and I was initially put off watching this film for a couple of months because I thought this might be some kind of 'Mum gets pregnant' cheesy love-story film. Not like that at all.

I have questions as to who is the real Mother of Henry (Hank) given developments during the story and not having read the book and there is a hollowness to Frank's earlier part of the story with his girlfriend/wife. The same could be said about Adele and her relations with her former husband and what was the real cause of her depression.

There are many issues about this film which merit open discussion but overall this is a super film and should be appreciated and enjoyed on merit.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Brazil] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Labor Day

Filming Locations:

Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,175,282, 2 February 2014

Gross USA:

$13,371,528

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,275,812

Company Credits

Production Co:

Indian Paintbrush, Mr. Mudd, Right of Way Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital Datasat Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1