MOVIE REVIEW - Labor Day

It's hard to imagine a movie that takes itself more seriously than the new drama, Labor Day starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin.

This a movie that takes place in 1987 in New England Labor Day Weekend.  Meet Adele (Winslet). She is a massively depressed,beautiful, young divorced mother of a 12 year old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith).   She is so mentally debilitated that she only leaves the house once a month, under protest, to pick up supplies in town.  

Meet Frank, (Brolin).   He is an escaped convict from a local pen, who is serving a 20 year sentence for murder.   As Adele and Henry are in town at the store, they encounter Frank, but don't know at first of his plight of begin a con on the run.   He basically convinces them that he needs a ride back to their house so he can rest up for a while.  They do, then figure out that he is the escaped prisoner and they feel like they have no choice.

Meanwhile back at Adele's house, it turns out the Frank is a great guy!  He is amazingly handsome and insanely well groomed.  He cooks, bakes pies, and even mops the floors.  He in fact, does all kinds of handy work around the house over the next day or two and settles in to a very enjoyable weekend with Adele and Henry.  He even mentors Henry at baseball, and basically becomes the father figure lacking in young Henry's life all in 24 hours.  Then Frank extends his handy work to actually sleeping with Adele while Henry listens in the next bedroom.  They fall in love, and now what?  She's got problems, and he's a convicted murderer? 

I know I am making a bit of fun of this, but literally this is the plot of this movie. But in its defense, it is told far more sensually than I just described here.  They also do make a nice attempt to define why Adele is the way she is, and they do make you question if Frank is really guilty or not.  And all of that is fine.   But the problem is, the whole thing is just so far-fetched and actually ludicrous at times.

I know Adele is a lonely and depressed woman in the prime of her life, but I do have to wonder what  woman I have ever known would sleep with a convicted murderer she just met 12 hours ago.  Let alone fall in love with him.  And how bad can life really be anyway, when the worst thing you have going for you is looking like Kate Winslet?  OK, that is not her fault, but her casting doesn't give her character any real credibility for being this hopeless woman.   Even though she is a fine actress, and this seemed like a nice project, perhaps someone a bit more say....common.

And what are the odds that a convicted murderer in jail for 20 years is this great guy, who is a great cook and baker who makes peach pie?   And not to mention, looks like Josh Brolin?   But, that is the fantasy of it all with the core audience that this will appeal to.  It's sort of like a Nicholas Sparks novel on steroids, if that's possible.  The problem overall is, it is all just presented so immensely serious.  Don't get me wrong, it's certainly is not a comedy, but this goes way up and beyond, trying too hard to be this incredible fantasy tale that will leave you breathless at the end. 

Some of this looks almost like a parody, and doesn't work at all.  Some of this does work and is romantic and spot on. Problem is overall it just doesn't work.  At times it looks more like an hour long TV drama, rather than a full length feature movie.

Labor Day.  Good cast, silly story, over the top told.