I've put the movie on pause because I literally can't stop crying. This movie touches me on so many levels. SUCH well acting! Dear God, don't hesitate to watch this movie. It's really one of my favs.

The plot of LABOR DAY is straightforward enough: depressed single mum Adele (Kate Winslet) struggles to look after thirteen-year-old Henry (Gattlin Griffith). Suddenly an escaped prisoner Frank (Josh Brolin) rudely interrupts the rhythm of their lives - although initially frightened of him, both Adele and Henry come to admire Frank as he helps to create a new (and idyllic) family life for them.The plot is a familiar one, exploited for horrific effect in movies such as THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955), but here used to prompt reflection on precisely what constitutes a so-called "criminal" mind. Director Jason Reitman does a fine job of recreating a hot- house small-town atmosphere in Massachusetts, c.1987, where all the inhabitants know one another and keep "dropping in" at unexpected moments, making the job of concealing Frank from prying eyes that much more difficult. Despite the location, it's clear that the residents of this town keep themselves to themselves: when neighbor Evelyn (Brooke Smith) comes to visit with her wheelchair-bound son Barry (Micah Fowler), she literally foists Barry on Adele, in spite of Adele's obvious protests. In this kind of environment, it's hardly surprising that Adele should find Frank so attractive, both physically as well as emotionally.Reitman contrasts the adolescent Henry's reactions to Frank with flashbacks to Frank's troubled childhood. We learn how Frank, despite his obvious virtues, never really had a chance in life - as the child of a troubled family with a murderous secret to conceal, he never really knew what stability was like. Hence his willingness to stay at Adele's, despite the obvious personal risks involved.Henry has a profoundly ambivalent attitude towards Frank's presence. While obviously happy for his mother, he feels somehow shut out from this idyllic family life, a fear that is exacerbated after his conversations with fellow-adolescent Eleanor (Brighid Fleming), whose turbulent background has given her a jaundiced view of parenthood. Henry believes himself to be in love with her (perhaps for the first time), and hence experiences an inner conflict: should he believe Eleanor or trust in his mother?The film does a grand job of analyzing the complexities of these relationships. Reitman's camera-work is intense, with tight close- ups alternating with establishing shots focusing on the claustrophobic atmosphere in which the drama takes place. Given the care and attention paid to setting up the central conflicts, it's a shame that the film's ending has to be so sentimentally tame. We learn what has happened to Henry in the intervening years since 1987; likewise Frank and Adele. Everything seems to go favorably for all them - an outcome redolent of Hollywood at its mushiest rather than a logical consequence of what we have previously seen. We end up feeling rather disappointed, as if we have been somewhat short-changed by a film with such promising beginnings.

The Film Score is what melded this whole film into brilliance. I cannot believe that the Powers in Place overlooked that. Forget every award but this soundtrack; it wove this tale that kept me engrossed, emotional, entailed; I was be struck!! This has become a favorite along side "The Note Book" and others but even more so. It also struck me as the entire story is told in the perception of the boy. I guess we could tell a entirely different story for the mother and the escaped convict. I would be welcome to all. Brilliant story telling but again: when you tell a story that is static and not visually moving; you better have the goods to grip. This has all the chops because I believe each actor committed to the project and it is felt by me the movie goer. Kudos x 10000 for the Screenplay and the casting. I watch it more than the Notebook.

I stopped watching the boring Boyhood and watched this instead. Glad I did. The performance by Kate Winslet was magnificent. The outcome is in doubt, the story believable, the dialogue perfect. It brings out the longings for love in each of us and the hunger for touch. Thats about it. Highly recommended. The rest if this will be nonsense so as to mske a minimum of ten lines necessary for a review to post which is really absurd. If thats the st as nears no wonder most reviews are so labored...pardon the pun. Dang not there yet only three more lines to go. ..... ye as h...yes h.yeah imes n ever notic err how difficult it is fir men with their big fingers to tyo e on their ddf mart phone. S lmost there yshooo! Funny stupid polocy..no wonder more people f ont write what they think.