You know, Labor Day COULD have been a decent film, if not for three blatant flaws:
- The film’s pacing is incredibly lethargic
- The main characters are quite dense
- The film lacks energy and passion for storytelling
These problems aren't necessarily the book’s fault (though I can’t say for certain since I've never read it), but certainly director Jason Reitman’s, as flaws 1 & 3 could have been avoided with skilled directing; something Reitman should have plenty from making previous (and often critically acclaimed) films. Yet the mistakes in Labor Day are blatant enough to ruin the positives, running at over an hour and fifty minutes when it should have been cut to around 90. Instead the film spends time and focus on extending unnecessary scenes to exhausting levels of boredom.
Take for example the “exhilarating” scene where Frank teaches Adele and Henry how to bake a peach cobbler. The scene does serve an important purpose for later on in the film, but that does not mean Reitman has to show EVERY SINGLE STEP towards the baking process. I honestly felt as if I was watching a cooking show instead of a film, except a cooking show would have the decency to not have a monotonous soundtrack that makes Rock-a-bye Baby seem Rock concert worthy (on the plus side however, I now know how to bake a mean peach cobbler). Scenes such as these work fine in a book, but should have clearly been shortened for the film adaption in order to have good pacing (something Reitman forgot to do).
Adele and Henry also show a lack of common sense in hiding an escaped convict (who’s just as bad as them). Examples of their stupidity include Frank sitting on the patio in broad daylight, Adele playing loud music that could draw attention (which Henry does call her out for) and all three acting like THE MOST SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE I've ever seen when talking to others (seriously, painting “I’m harboring a convict” on their foreheads wouldn't have been much worse from what they were doing). Yet the greatest flaw of the film is its characters complete lack of natural human animation. There are some great actors here, yet all their personalities seemed to been replaced with stoic expressions and bland dialogue. The energy’s just been sucked right out of them which painfully adds to the film’s already sluggish pace.
Even Kate Winslet, one of my favorite modern actresses, is completely detached and dull. Granted her character’s supposed to start off disconnected, yet by the end I felt she was no better off than where she began. The only exception to the blandness is J.K. Simmons, which is because he’s J.K. Simmons and no matter what J.K. Simmons is awesome! His screen time amounts to less than 60 seconds, yet makes a more memorable impression than any other character throughout. Labor Day amounts to nothing more than Jason Reitman’s worst directed work; a bland, boring and ultimately forgettable film starring a lot of good actors carrying out sub-par roles.
