Whilst Jason Reitman‘s previous directorial outings all shared a sharp sense of satire and sarcasm his latest film, Labor Day, finds him diving into much more dramatic waters. The Canadian/American director confessed that his decision to test new waters meant he “had to grow up a little bit” but is appears to have been an educated decision given the early reviews coming out of the festival circuit.
Sticking closely to the source material, Labor Day is adapted from the original novel by Joyce Maynard which follows a depressed single mother (Kate Winslet) and her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) who offer to provide refuge to a wounded escaped convict (Josh Brolin) over a long weekend as the police scavenge the area searching for him.
Whilst a trailer is yet to be released Paramount have revealed the first clip which emphasises exactly how much of a leap Reitman was willing to make.
The film’s star, Brolin, has recently featured heavily in the news when his name started flying around as one of a select few candidates in the running to take over residence in the bat cave for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel. We all now the outcome but at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, promoting Labor Day, Brolin confessed that he didn’t actually receive a formal offer from Snyder for the role and he he has actively joined the likes of Matt Damon, Hans Zimmer, Joss Whedon, Val Kilmer, Michael Keaton and Adam West to balance the scales against an online rally of irate Bat-fans protesting against the decision to go with Affleck as the caped crusader.
Speaking of the situation Brolin commented:
“I’ve never seen such a global reaction in my life. I feel for him, truly. I would not want to be him right now. The reaction becomes so personal. It’s like, ‘Fuck this guy, I wish he was dead.’ And you’re like, ‘What? Dude, seriously? This guy is just working like you are. He’s doing the same thing you are. He’s trying to make the best choices he can.’
“I think I might have said that like 15 years ago, but now, because of the Internet, man, I just feel for anybody who gets lambasted at that level. I want him to kick ass and I want everyone to love it and kind of eat their words.”
Remember Ben, with the cape and cowl comes great responsibility (and lots of heat). Bring deodorant. #batman @BenAffleck
— Adam West (@therealadamwest) August 23, 2013
Give Ben a chance!
— Val Kilmer (@ValEKilmer) August 23, 2013
Affleck’ll crush it. He’s got the chops, he’s got the chin — just needs the material. Affleck & Cavill toe to toe — I’m in.
— Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) August 24, 2013
Labor Day most recently screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will be hitting UK shores on the 7th of February, 2014. We’ll leave you with the aforementioned movie clip via Yahoo.
[yahoo id=”movies.yahoo.com/video/labor-day-train-tracks-180416804″ align=”center”]
