Labor Day is definitely not the movie I would normally watch, if I have read the storyline, but this was an accident that I don't regret. This morning, while charting and testing something, this movie was starting on one of the Hungarian channels. I didn't see the title, neither the into, the first scene was what I noticed and as my focus was on the charts, I kept an eye on the screen to see what it is about.
A depressed mother's husband has left her for she could not bear a second child. Living alone with her only son, she has an unlikely meeting with an injured escaped convict, and reluctantly takes him into her own care. The man proves to be better than his criminal image as the three bond over Labor Day weekend. The only problem? Everyone in town is looking for him.
Kate Winslet's name is already a guarantee in my eyes, and she is one of the main characters, playing Adele, the depressed single mother of a 13 year old boy, Henry.
The movie, based on American author Joyce Maynard, starts with Adele and Henry grocery shopping, when a stranger approaches them and asks for help. Even though he was not aggressive in the proper sense of the word, his look and behavior was kind of scary. So far the story wasn't something we haven't seen before, so I had to choose between giving it a chance and potentially watching the guy terrorizing the vulnerable mother and her son, or walk away and choose something else as background noise. For some inexplicable reason I said let's see what happens next and didn't regret my decision.
Adele agrees to help Frank, or better said she doesn't have the courage to disagree or fight the man and they get into the car and drive home, while the police is looking for a fugitive man, who is wanted for murder. They get home and Frank takes charge of the house and the two inhabitants, that are now his hostages. The tension and fear in the air is palpable and Adele's behavior is kind of annoying as she obeys Frank blindly, she never protests against the situation.
Living in a small community, where everyone knows everyone and even though the action happens way before the digital era, which means surveillance is non existent on every corner, people are vigilant as there's a fugitive on the lose. This makes their life harder, but after the first night, Adele seems to act more like a accomplice, then a hostage.
Henry is fighting his battle alone, he is trying to understand or process the situation on its own and the best way a 13 year old boy can. He has a difficult childhood, his dad left them when Adele, after three miscarriages and one stillborn baby, was not able to give him a second child and remarried.
Even though the tension doesn't go away, slowly we learn that Frank is not the hardcore criminal the news paints him out to be. He is helping around the house, teaches them how to bake a pie, even plays with the disabled neighbor kid who's dropped off by the mother.
Adele, a lonely, depressed and vulnerable mother who lived most of her adult life with her sun, in deep sorrow and loneliness, is longing for attention and kindness and in this twisted situation, he sees something totally different than it is in fact. He's attending Frank's appendix surgery wound as he escaped from the hospital and slowly the relationship changes between the two. During the 111 minutes, we find out why is Frank wanted by the police and we also see the two adults trying to find an acceptable solution to the situation.
Labor Day is a slow paced movie, where not necessarily the action is the most important thing. It is obviously, as that's part of the story, but the main focus is on the moral and psychological part. The three main characters are complex and well written. The writer made sure to explore every side of their personalities and we get to see the world through their own eyes and thoughts, which adds more value to the movie.
I must admit, I was a bit afraid of the ending as even if you don't wan to, your brain generates a few scenarios and not every one of these scenarios can contribute to raising the value of the movie to another level. The ending we see has never crossed my mind honestly and this is why I consider Joyce Maynard, the novelist a great talent. If I were to say a few words about the movie, that would be "it has character".
Usually I prefer to watch movies without dubbing as dubbing can take away a lot and even ruin a movie, but as this was on a Hungarian channel, I had no other option, but to watch it with Hungarian dubbing. This is mostly a huge risk as what Hungarians are doing with movies and series I consider a crime, a true crime, most are simply unwatchable, but this was different. They kept it real.
Not everyone is going to like it, most of you would say it's boring and that's ok as you need to have the right mood for such movies, but if you like movies with deep meaning, you'll like it, I can guarantee you that.
Rating: 85/100