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All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I liked the outstanding blend of contradictory emotions and needy humans involved. The child is a key character in the movie in addition to being as a 3rd person narrator. The parallel stories together with the stream of unconsciousness mode of narration are well-crafted. Photography goes hand in hand with the main theme of the movie and put me in heroes' shoes. I love it!

A single mom Adele (Winslet) with son Henry are forced to harbor a fugitive Frank (Brolin) at theirown home. An unexpected relationship develops among the three. A beautiful story with a great cast including the super talented Gattlin Griffith as Henry. A very sensual, delicate, and rather natural direction on the hands of Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno). Jason scripted this movie based on the novel by Joyce Maynard. Jason did a terrific job in interpreting Adele's yearning for male attention and care, in brief a man around the house in every aspect, especially in the scene where Frank wraps his arm around her waist and when we see her face turning towards him, I and I am sure a lot of the audience expected a kiss but what do you know…Winslet beautifully and vulnerably lays her face on his shoulder….. absolutely mesmerizing!Another scene stands out for me how Reitman plays down and tones down the sexual relationship between Frank and Adele by suggestive scenes for example, when Henry does not find Frank on the couch where he was usually sleeps but hears him in his mom's bedroom and another scene where he opens the bathroom door to find her brushing her teeth with her under gown on with Frank there with her, but then in the movie's most vulnerable scene, we just get a single passionate kiss between Frank and Adele. I loved the use of sunlight throughout the movie right about when Frank arrives at Adel and Henry's house and starts affecting and impacting their lives, which to me is rather symbolic for light of hope that is shed on them, a second chance for a normal and loving family life, for them and for Frank as well, clearly evident in the final scenes when upon telling him about her problematic pregnancy life , she tells him:" I can't give you a family.", he replies: " you have". I loved the clash of two unfortunate characters who lost love and regained it under the most unfortunate circumstances and their love conquered and endured all times and survived. You got to give praise to how Reitman in script and direction, sprinkled more than four dramatic tension points that could result in the capture of Frank, Henry's rebel girlfriend, Henry's letter to his Dad and mentioning at dinner that there is a man around his house, Bary the mentally handicapped kid who visits them and meets Frank, but the wow factor, is how all these did not play any part in Frank's final capture. Turning my attention to the script and as much as I loved it, a few things bothered me and caughtmy attention as weak and incredible as far as plot and characterization. Starting with Bary's visit and Frank's okay with that, how could a character like Frank who was cold and cautious from the beginning in order to protect himself, let a mentally retarded kid see him? What did he think it was okay? What was he going to say? He turned out rather shouting his name, how contradictory is that? Add to that, Reitman making Bary conveniently watch the news broadcast where for maybe the 20th time they show Frank's young prison pic and for the first time in the movie, they put an adult pic of him next to it, come on how convenient and corny is that? Also keeping with Frank's character motif , why would someone like him on the day he was all alone in the house and knowing from before that Adele's neighbors and friends barge in and pop in unexpectedly not to mention rudely like Bary's mom, and while standing conveniently in direct vision of anyone coming through the main door, leave it unlocked??? Hehe.. Of all the days they could have gathered their stuff and escape to Canada, they picked Henry's first day of school to do it, and where everybody in the movie made a point of it, that's just silly…. Obviously it was added to create dramatic tension and suspense but to a weak effect and result. I will end my comments with the corny ending of the movie, we understand that Frank takes a lot of thecredit for the fine upbringing and how a fine man Henry turned out to be, but it was rather commercialand clichéd for Reitman to actually show us Henry doing exactly the same things Frank taught him, changing a tire while with his girlfriend, cooking and baking a pie for his mom, playing baseball etc… and the corniest of them all, Henry becoming a pie chef and opening a famous restaurant, that ending was just too hollywoody and I imagine every scene that comes after Frank's second arrest is rather made for commercial box office reasons, come on …would you rather have this ending or just maybe see Henry cooking for his mom, and being with his girlfriend? I know your pick.

I actually read the novel Labor Day by Joyce Maynard before I rented the film. The book is very good and packs an emotional wallop at the end (a similar ending with some added nuances). Having read the book, I knew what was going to happen so in some ways it took away any of the suspense that existed in the film for people who were seeing the story for the first time.I think the book fills in the details of the characters' lives better than the film does, however the director obviously had to choose how to provide the background stories of Adele and Frank, and given their individual pasts, it wasn't an easy feat. The director did an admirable job in my opinion, yet I don't know if I hadn't read the book if I'd have been able to piece together Frank's story all that well.The casting of Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin was very inspired and they each captured their characters believably. This is a love story ultimately and being told from the perspective of a 13 year old boy adds a perspective that is refreshing.

Sometimes you go to the movies and it is great drama--maybe Citizen Kane, A Streetcar Named Desire, or Raging Bull. Other times, it is not drama of any quality, but you still enjoy yourself, perhaps immensely--say Airplane, Godzilla vs Mothra, or Rocky III.Fundamentally, Labor Day is a chick flick of the second category. Josh Brolin plays Frank, a man on the run for double murder who escaped prison by jumping from a second floor window. Limping into a K-Mart, he is spying single mom Adele (Kate Winslet) someone who he thinks he can talk into helping him. Adele's 13-year-old son Henry starts chatting with Frank, and seems to think it would be okay to offer this man bleeding in a K-mart a ride to... somewhere.Let me stop here. This movie is already off the rails. There is NO CHANCE this would ever happen, and yet... time for Godzilla!! We suspend our disbelief, and it gets better. They take Frank home and he starts doing household chores while hiding out from the police-- landscapes the yard, changes the oil in the car, even bakes a peach pie. He turns out to be a great guy, and the lonely, tormented Adele falls for him, offering her a chance for love again.At this point, you would think it would be lights out, but--yo! Adrian!--something about this movie keeps you around. The actors are good, really good, and they play it with as much conviction as if they were doing Hamlet (well, maybe not quite that much). The characters emerge, and you can sympathize with them, root for them and believe in them. You might even start to think that love might cause something this implausible, since, after all, we all have our own stories. It is both half-baked and absorbing.Critical response has been hot and cold--easy to understand given the contradictions. Winslet, Brolin and Griffith are convincing, no matter how ridiculous their plot. It's Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr all over again, a chick-flick Bonnie and Clyde.