Last days of Summer

Not many films today can boast such precise, focused direction. Every look of the actors, every shot, has its place. This is a long way from the "red library", as some here write. Of course, some naysayers might find it there, especially in the final climax, but there's nothing to be done about that. Kate Winslet is fantastic Josh Brolin’s charisma is enormous. (24/09/2014)

Reitman shot this nicely and effectively, but his earlier and more cynical movies are more to my taste. This is pure melodrama to poke at your feels. Ew! (26/04/2014)

I didn’t read the description of this movie. I just noticed that my reliables at this site didn’t rate it lower than four stars and so I thought that there must be something to it. I put on HBO and waited what Labor Day would bring. And from the start, it seemed very depressing and classic when it comes to a prison escapee. But I didn’t expect that it’d become such a drama full of love with a beautiful story flow, amazing actors and an ending that probably couldn’t have been any more beautiful. It’s just a shame that here and there, I didn’t really get a few things. For example, whether Adele’s son was adopted or biological. Since Reitman made the effort to tell her sad life story, he could have given us some closure as well. And there was a lot of those moments. But overall, it was a beautiful movie about a fated love that was worth waiting for. (15/03/2015)

I watched Labor Day as part of a Valentine's Day event, during which a person is willing to undergo a bit of romance and score a bit in a partnership to fulfill their expectations of the holiday of lovers. This film can be simplified as "won't offend, but won't impress either." It won't offend mainly because of the presence of the central couple. Kate belongs to the elite of female character actors within her generation, and you simply believe in her as the abandoned mother. Josh Brolin could patent roles of charismatic bearded men with a tough exterior and a good heart - that's just simply him. The others play their roles as they should, and the director is capable of orchestrating it all. The problem lies in the screenplay, which does not address some things at all and only briefly touches on others. The most interesting and important aspect of the plot is the mutual discovery, building trust, and relationship between the escaped prisoner and his hostages. But that is incredibly superficial. It almost seems like Kate Winslet was just waiting for something like that and enthusiastically ended up in bed with a murderer sentenced to 18 years after a few hours. What should one think of such a character then? The psychology is simply superficial or completely unreliable. And the tacked-on romantic ending seems to come from a mediocre romance novel. Overall impression: 55%. (21/02/2014)

Jason Reitman is excellent at capturing the chemistry between people on screen through skillfully edited shots of the main characters and their body language. He was able to do this in his earlier films, especially in Up in The Air. Essentially, this one a very similar conversation, just set two decades earlier and with the difference that this time the main characters know exactly what they want, whereas in the previous film they had to figure it out first. Perhaps this takes away from the realism a bit and it falls into the realm of fiction (in terms of execution and storytelling), but Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet have charisma. It's a pity that the second half of the film is predictable, because the initial conversation was very enjoyable. (15/11/2014)

Labor Day offers a believably written story of two people who thought they would never find love and happiness in their lives, but fate gave them a few days together that changed both of their lives from the ground up. The film stands above all on the performances of Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, who were brilliantly seconded by the young Gattlin Griffith. Thanks to flashbacks, we slowly uncover the sad story of the two main characters and basically have no idea how things will turn out for them until the very end – a big plus for the unpredictability of the plot. Through the character of Henry, alongside the love storyline, the film offers a coming-of-age tale and seeing the world through a child's eyes, which is not as black and white as it might seem. Although the film has a slower pace at first, it doesn't get boring, and in the last third the atmosphere could almost be cut with a knife at times. (12/03/2020)

A whiny, drawn out, and incredibly uninspiring spectacle like something from the Sparks, where I had to spend the whole time thinking about my vacation starting the next day so I wouldn't eat my arm out of boredom. It embodies virtually every aspect of cinematic evil – guilt, fatalism, mistrust breaking into love, becoming a man, soft lights – and it's got practically zero budget. Better to read the book instead. A different one, that is. (19/05/2014)

J’avais des préjugés infondés sur ce film après avoir vu la bande-annonce et pendant le générique de début, mais je me trompais. C’est en fait l’un des films les plus agréables que j’ai vus ces derniers temps et, en ce qui me concerne, une grande surprise également. Ça reste malgré tout une histoire d’amour à l’eau de rose, mais qui est en même temps naturelle et pas forcée. Le dénouement imaginaire que j’avais anticipé pendant le générique de début m’a rebuté pour rien et ne s’est finalement pas présenté. Josh Brolin et Kate Winslet vont bien ensemble, tout ce qu’ils disent et font est crédible, et j’aime beaucoup aussi le petit Gattlin Griffith. Le seul mauvais point reste l’absence de ma chanson adorée Wings de Birdy que j’ai attendue en vain jusqu’aux dernières secondes du générique de fin. Bon, je vais au moins aller écouter ça sur YouTube ! (04/08/2014)

A quite interesting story, but in my opinion, it is a bit dampened by too peaceful acting. Emotions literally overflow from Kate, but Josh Brolin's character could have been even more ambivalent, even rougher. Like this, it's a rather intriguing romance, but it still drags on enough to completely draw a person in and hit them in the end. (02/06/2014)