Labor Day (film)

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Labor Day

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jason Reitman
Produced by Lianne Halfon
Russell Smith
Jason Reitman
Helen Estabrook
Screenplay by Jason Reitman
Based on Labor Day 
by Joyce Maynard
Starring Kate Winslet
Josh Brolin
Gattlin Griffith
Tobey Maguire
Music by Rolfe Kent
Cinematography Eric Steelberg
Editing by Dana E. Glauberman
Studio Indian Paintbrush
Mr. Mudd
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
Running time 111 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $18 million[4]
Box office $6,616,012[4][5]

Labor Day is a 2013 American drama film based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard. The film had a wide release on January 31, 2014, in the United States.[3][6] It was announced in 2009 that the film would be directed by Jason Reitman.[7] On June 16, 2011, it was announced that Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin committed to star as the film's leads Adele and Frank, respectively.[8] Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush co-produced the film.[9] The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 29, 2013,[1] and on September 7, 2013, at Toronto International Film Festival.[10][11]

Plot

In 1987, Adele Wheeler (Kate Winslet) is a depressed single mom who lives in a rural home with her 13-year-old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith). While they are clothes shopping, a bloody man approaches Henry and makes them take him home to look after him. The man is revealed to be Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin), a convict who is wanted by the local police after breaking out of jail. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Frank is a Vietnam veteran who returned home and married his pregnant girlfriend, Mandy (Maika Monroe), who soon gave birth. A year after the baby's birth, Frank and Mandy had a fight, where she unintentionally revealed that he isn't the baby's father. During the fight, he accidentally pushed her against a radiator, resulting in her death. Simultaneously, the baby drowned and Frank was sent to jail for Mandy's murder.

Adele and Frank fall in love and plan to go to Canada with Henry. They begin packing the house and cleaning on Labor Day. Meanwhile, Henry develops a friendship with a mature, but manipulative girl named Eleanor (Brighid Fleming), and goes to see her one more time before they leave. She manipulates him into thinking Adele and Frank are going to abandon him and he accidentally reveals Frank's past. The morning they are going to leave, Henry takes a note to his father's house and leaves it in his mailbox. While he is walking home, a policeman (James van der Beek) offers to drive him home, and Henry has no choice but to accept. The policeman is suspicious of the packed car and nearly-empty house, but eventually leaves. Adele goes to the bank to get all the money out of her account, and while she is gone the neighbor comes over to give Adele some cinnamon rolls, and speaks to Frank. She is suspicious of who he may be. Henry's father finds the note he left, and calls the house wondering what is going on. Before Adele, Frank, and Henry can escape, the police arrive and arrest him. He ties Henry and Adele up before he goes out to surrender, so that they won't be charged with harboring a fugitive. It is not revealed who called the police to report Frank's presence at the house.

Years later, adult Henry (Tobey Maguire) has become a successful baker and is contacted by Frank, who is getting out of jail. Henry tells him that his mother is still single, and Frank meets Adele at her home when he is released.

Cast

Production

Development

In September 2009, it was announced that Reitman was working on a screenplay, based on Joyce Maynard's novel.[14] Talking about the story, Reitman said that the "I read it, and I saw the movie in my head. It challenged me in a way that I liked. It was different from everything else I’ve read."[15] He also admitted that it was completely different from his previous work and said that "[it] deals with a very complex drama. And I may not nail it on this film, it may just be my first step."[16] Reitman wanted to made the film right after his 2009 film Up in the Air, but due to Winslet's scheduling conflicts, he chose to direct Young Adult first.[17][18]

Casting

Reitman had Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in mind for the lead roles.[19] In June 2011, it was revealed that Winslet and Brolin had joined the cast of the film.[20] On casting the actors, he said, "I know what actors I want for it. I'll be able to go to them easily"[16] and that "[Winslet] makes those characters beautiful and sexual. I don’t know another actor who does that. I don’t know what I would have done if she’d said no."[17][21]

In April 2012, it was announced that James Van Der Beek has joined the cast of the film as a Police Officer and Gattlin Griffith as young Henry Wheeler.[22][23] In June 2012, it was confirmed that Alexie Gilmore, Brighid Fleming, Lucas Hedges and Micah Fowler have joined the cast of the film.[24] Later Tobey Maguire round out the cast and joined the film as adult Henry Wheeler.[25][26]

Pre-production

Filming took place at Canobie Lake Park.

Production began for the film on June 5, 2012.[27] Reitman and the film's art director Steve Saklad searched a number of houses in Massachusetts as most of the film is set inside the Wheelers' home. According to Reitman, "We searched the entire state of Massachusetts for that house. My location manager has never looked at that many locations looking for one place. For weeks we would just drive down the street, knocking on people’s doors. The house we found was perfect but it was very modern. Steve brought it back to 1987."[17]

Filming

Principal photography for the film began on June 13, 2012, in Massachusetts.[28] The filming locations included Sutton, Shelburne, Acton, Mansfield, Natick, Medfield, and Medway, Massachusetts.[29] On 25 January, filming moved to Acton and scenes shot around Piper Road and at a house located in the area.[30][31][32] The movie was also filmed at Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire.[33] The filming finished on 17 August, 2012.[34]

Promotion

The first image of Winslet, Brolin, and Griffith was released on July 23, 2013, along with the announcement of film having its world premiere at 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[35] After its premiere at TIFF, the official poster for the film was revealed on 20 September, 2013.[36] The first official trailer of the film was released on October 31, 2013[37] followed by a second trailer released in November 2013.[38]

Paramount partnered with the American Pie Council (APC) in promoting the film,[39] and the APC produced materials promoting both the film and National Pie Day (January 23, eight days before the film's general American release).[40]

Music

Labor Day : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Rolfe Kent & various artists
Released December 17, 2013 (U.S.)[41][6]
Recorded Various times
Genre Soundtrack
Length 43:59[41][6]
Label Warner Bros. Records[41][6]
Producer Rolfe Kent
Rolfe Kent chronology

The Scapegoat
(2013)		 Labor Day
(2013)		 Bad Words
(2014)

The soundtrack was composed by Rolfe Kent who previously composed music for Reitman's Thank You for Smoking (2005), Up in the Air (2009) and Young Adult (2011). The album features I'm Going Home from Arlo Guthrie and Here Before from Vashti Bunyan.[42] It also contains guitar pieces by Andrés Segovia and Shin-Ichi Fukuda.[43] Talking about the music, Kent said that "You know it’s simple to compose happy or sad music, but to create something simple yet sophisticated, that calls the listener to be curious and yet uncertain and perhaps a little unnerved, well it called me to forget everything I knew about composition and discover a whole new musical language. It was at once incredibly stressful, and deeply rewarding."[44][45]

Film Music Magazine's Daniel Schweiger praised the soundtrack as "most impactful insights to the human condition, while completely surprising with its cinematic, and musical authorships."[46] Kaya Savas of Film Music Media gave the album four and a half star out of five and said that "There is beauty, sadness and uneasiness all tackled with a wonderfully calculated approach."[47]

Soundtracks listing

No. TitleMusic Length
1. "I'm Going Home"  Arlo Guthrie 3:14
2. "A Stroll"  Rolfe Kent 2:48
3. "Price Mart"  Rolfe Kent 4:56
4. "Hunger for Human Touch"  Rolfe Kent 4:15
5. "Frank the HandyMan"  Rolfe Kent 2:24
6. "Eating Pie"  Rolfe Kent 1:43
7. "Here Before"  Vashti Bunyan 2:06
8. "Exercises in B Minor, Op. 35, No. 22: Allegretto"  Shin-Ichi Fukuda 1:56
9. "Adele’s Miscarriages"  Rolfe Kent 4:42
10. "Letter to Dad"  Rolfe Kent 5:17
11. "Frank Is Arrested"  Rolfe Kent 1:27
12. "Henry Grows Up"  Rolfe Kent 7:31
13. "Romance de los Pinos"  Andrés Segovia 1:41
Total length:
 43:59

Songs

The soundtrack album features three songs.[47] Wings from Birdy and Take Us Alive from Other Lives were featured in the trailers of the movie.[48][49][50]

# Song/artist Writer Length
1 "I'm Going Home" by Arlo Guthrie Arlo Guthrie (for Alice's Restaurant) 3:14
2 "Here Before" by Vashti Bunyan Vashti Bunyan (for Lookaftering) 2:06
3 "Exercises in B Minor, Op. 35, No. 22: Allegretto" by Shin-Ichi Fukuda 2:55

Release

The film had a limited release on December 27, 2013, for a one week awards-qualifying run and had a wide release on January 31, 2014, in the United States.[51]

Reception

Box office

The film was opened wide along with That Awkward Moment on Super Bowl weekend. It grossed an estimated $5,300,000 in its first three days and ranked seventh on its opening weekend, in domestic box office rankings by Rentrak.[4][52]

Critical response

According to Rotten Tomatoes, 32% of critics have given the film positive reviews, based on 150 reviews. The consensus states: "Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin make for an undeniably compelling pair, but they can't quite rescue Labor Day from the pallid melodrama of its exceedingly ill-advised plot."[53] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film holds an average score of 51, based on 41 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[54]

The film received mixed reviews, but Winslet's performance was praised. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, in his review said that "the film emits frequent pangs of emotion and tension, which enable it to prevail over threats from the cliches and inevitabilities of the story's format. There is more than one instance when events will cause many viewers' hearts to leap, as they say, into their throats, and the wrap-up is quietly satisfying."[55] Peter Debruge of Variety stated that Labor Day brims with such carefully observed details, all of them a little too elegant to feel entirely genuine, and yet impossible to fault" and that Winslet "communicate Adele's fragility in a matter of a few short scenes."[56] Lou Lumenick in his review for the New York Post, compared the film with Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World.[57]

Accolades

Accolades
Award / Film Festival Category Recipient(s) Result
2013 Golden Globe Awards[58][59] Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Kate Winslet Nominated
Society of Camera Operators[60][61] Camera Operator of the Year – Feature Film P. Scott Sakamoto Pending

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sperling, Nicole (August 29, 2013). "Jason Reitman's 'Labor Day' premieres at Telluride Film Festival". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 5, 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Telluride Film Festival scoops TIFF's world premieres". Toronto Star. August 31, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Paramount Moves 'Labor Day' From Limited Christmas Opening to Wide January Release". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Labor Day". Retrieved February 2, 2014. 
  5. ↑ "Labor Day". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 7, 2014. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Jason Reitman Pic 'Labor Day' Gets Christmas Release". Deadline.com. Retrieved June 21, 2013. 
  7. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (September 4, 2009). "'Up in the Air' director Jason Reitman stays grounded". USA Today. Retrieved January 4, 2013. 
  8. ↑ Busis, Hillary. "Kate Winslet Josh Brolin 'Labor Day'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 4, 2013. 
  9. ↑ "News and Social Media". Paramount Pictures. December 21, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2013. 
  10. ↑ "TIFF 2013: 'Labor Day' has Jason Reitman toiling anew". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  11. ↑ "Festival - Special Presentation". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  12. ↑ "Labor Day Cast & Crew". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 16, 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Labor Day Cast & Crew". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 16, 2013. 
  14. ↑ "Jason Reitman Adapting Joyce Maynard’s Labor Day". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  15. ↑ "Jason Reitman on Directing ‘Labor Day’: ‘It Felt Like Making My First Movie All Over Again’". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Jason Reitman discusses his Adaptation of Joyce Maynard’s Labor Day". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Directors on Their Teams: Jason Reitman on ‘Labor Day’". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  18. ↑ "TIFF 2013: Five things we learned at the press conference for Labor Day". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  19. ↑ "Jason Reitman’s LABOR DAY Starts Production; Updated Synopsis Released". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  20. ↑ "Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin Lead Cast of Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  21. ↑ "Kate Winslet discusses waiting for ‘Labor Day’". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  22. ↑ "James Van Der Beek Cast in Jason Reitman's 'Labor Day'". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  23. ↑ "Jason Reitman Casts Child Star for Next Film 'Labor Day' (Exclusive)". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  24. ↑ "Jason Reitman Rounds Out Labor Day Cast With Moonrise Kingdom Star". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  25. ↑ "Tobey Maguire Joins Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  26. ↑ "Tobey Maguire Rounds Out the Cast of Jason Reitman's 'Labor Day'". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  27. ↑ "'Moonrise Kingdom' Actor Joins Jason Reitman's 'Labor Day'". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  28. ↑ "Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush Announce the Start of Principle Photography on Reitman's "Labor Day"" (Press release). Paramount Pictures. June 13, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012. 
  29. ↑ Goldstein, Meredith (July 12, 2012). "Reports: Tobey Maguire joins local film ‘Labor Day’". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 19, 2012. 
  30. ↑ "PHOTOS: Labor Day the Movie [Filming on Piper Road]". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  31. ↑ "It’s ‘Labor Day’ in Acton". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  32. ↑ "Movie filming under way at Acton home". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  33. ↑ "'Labor Day' set takes to Canobie Lake Park". Retrieved January 1, 2014. 
  34. ↑ "Labor Day". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  35. ↑ "First Look: Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in Jason Reitman's 'Labor Day'". Retrieved June 21, 2013. 
  36. ↑ "New Poster For Jason Reitman's Labor Day". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  37. ↑ "'Labor Day' trailer: Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet's inconvenient romance -- VIDEO". Retrieved October 31, 2013. 
  38. ↑ "Second Trailer for Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’ Drops". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  39. ↑ "'Labor Day' Partners with American Pie Council for National Pie Day". Variety. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  40. ↑ Lou Lumenick (January 15, 2014). "Poster celebrates 'Make a Pie With a Murderer Day'". New York Post. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 "Labor Day Soundtrack Information". Retrieved 8 December 2013. 
  42. ↑ "'Labor Day' Soundtrack Feature Arlo Guthrie, Vashti Bunyan Plus Score By Rolfe Kent". Retrieved 8 December 2013. 
  43. ↑ "‘Labor Day’ Soundtrack Announced". Retrieved 8 December 2013. 
  44. ↑ "Labor Day Soundtrack (Rolfe Kent)". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  45. ↑ "ROLFE KENT SCORES ‘LABOR DAY’". Retrieved January 1, 2014. 
  46. ↑ "Audio: On the Score with Rolfe Kent". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "Labor Day by Rolfe Kent (Review)". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  48. ↑ "LABOR DAY - TRAILER". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  49. ↑ "OTHER LIVES FEATURED IN TRAILER FOR ‘LABOR DAY". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  50. ↑ "LABOR DAY Trailer". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  51. ↑ "Paramount Moves 'Labor Day' From Limited Christmas Opening to Wide January Release". Retrieved January 7, 2014. 
  52. ↑ Mendelson, Scott (February 2, 2014). "Weekend Box Office: 'That Awkward Moment', 'Labor Day' Fumble". Forbes. Retrieved February 2, 2014. 
  53. ↑ "Labor Day (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 5, 2014. 
  54. ↑ "Labor Day". Metacritic. Retrieved February 5, 2014. 
  55. ↑ McCarthy, Todd. "Labor Day: Telluride Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 31, 2013. 
  56. ↑ Debruge, Peter. "Telluride Film Review: 'Labor Day'". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2013. 
  57. ↑ Lumenick, Lou. "Winslet, Brolin shine in swooningly romantic 'Labor Day'". New York Post. Retrieved October 31, 2013. 
  58. ↑ "Making Sense of This Morning's Golden Globe Nominations and Snubs (Analysis)". hollywoodreporter. December 12, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014. 
  59. ↑ "Golden Globe Nominations: 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle Lead The Nominees". hollywoodreporter. December 11, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014. 
  60. ↑ "Camera Operators Unveil Film, TV Nominees". Deadline. January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2014. 
  61. ↑ "Nominations Announced for Annual Society of Camera Operators Awards for Camera Operator of the Year -- Feature Film and Television". hollywoodreporter. January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2014. 

External links

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