By J.R. “Jim” Zurak
Labor Day may have defined its self in its own title. Parts of the movie are a “Labor” to watch. It is difficult to develop empathy or understanding for a divorced and neurotic wife who, with her dutiful teenaged son, are taken and held hostage by an escaped killer. While this sounds like it might develop into a movie with sinister overtones and action packed drama, it quickly becomes a case of Stockholm Syndrome with what could be defined as a Valium/Xanax induced story line. Josh Brolin portrays the “I didn’t mean to kill her” prison escapee who finds himself in a New Hampshire super market looking for a place to hide from the police and transportation to get to his unknown destination. An emotionally detached and damaged Kate Winslet, and her teenage son, happen to be in this supermarket at the same time. Brolin advises Winslet that he needs a place to hide for 24 hours and that if she will drive him to her house, he won’t harm either her or her son. These three emotionally damaged human beings, thrown together under difficult to believe set of circumstances, now collectively and emotionally bond into a “family unit”. While there is a mildly credible beginning and surprisingly satisfying end to the movie, it is the “laborious” middle that turns Labor Day into a seemingly never ending quagmire of emotions gone astray.
Rating: “C-F-G-A” = Chick Flick Gone Astray.
Labor Day is playing at The Old Mill Theater in The Villages.
Villager J.R. “Jim” Zurak reviews movies for Villages-News.com