Another movie that was in my "to-see" list for awhile, Labor Day was a kind of let down for me and a bit of a good surprise at the same time, if this make any sense.
The let down was how the Jason Reitman's movie was very traditional in some ways - I had another impression about it through the theatrical trailer. But, again, that is all on me: expectations are a true bummer.
The good surprises came from the movie's delicacy and melancholy, presented in the kid's point of view. How a boy tries to fit his absent father's shoes in order to put his mother's life back in the tracks is the center of this film, I think, not the romance between the two adult protagonists, the ever good to see Kate Winstlet and Josh Brolin.
Henry's story has a good end at last (not a big spoiler, I swear), but it is not always like that. Trying to fit in other's shoes is something that leads to a unsatisfying life. After all, you living someone else's story, not yours. But Reitman went to another route, the one that picture, through good characters and a beautiful cinematography, how some people are a true inspiration for us, even if they don't look like that at first.
There's some serious holes in the script - like some things are only a way to meet the intended goal. But if you can overlook that, the story is still sweet and a good coming of age tale.
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| Labor Day. Directed and written by Jason Reitman, based on the novel by Joyce Maynard. With: Gattlin Griffith, Kate Winstlet, Josh Brolin, James Van Der Beek, Tobey Mguire. US, 2013, 111 min., SDDS/Dolby Digital, Color (Cable TV) |
PS: I must be getting really old and picky, but something that bothered me a lot in the first part of this movie was the Josh Brolin's really trimmed goatee. Yeah, I know. But it was too perfect for a guy that was in prison and had just run out from a hospital bed after undergoing a surgery. As I've said, too picky. But life is on details, don't you think?
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