Bitter, sweet, some shades of neat: My review of ‘Labor Day’

I’ve been in love with Kate Winslet for a little bit. From her delivery in Titanic (1997) that I can shamelessly admit I still haven’t finished, to The Holiday, to Finding Neverland, there’s a purity in her eyes and voice that just draws me to her.

When I heard of the opportunity to attend a private screening for ‘Labor Day’, I knew I had to go see it! Not because mi lady was the central character, not because I’d never been to Paramount Pictures (hello bragging rights), and not even because I’m a sucker for movies with a splash of romance!

Why then? Well, I couldn’t tell how the movie would end from the trailer, and normally I can at least hazard a guess. I watched it thrice, formulated two endings I wasn’t convinced with, and decided hey, need to see this one to the end already!

Thanks to @MumsnetBloggers and @ParamountUK I got two tickets, and so on Thursday, off to Gunnersbury I went! Made a wrong train call (thanks to my already established ‘love’ for geography) so I got there a few minutes into the movie.

Infidelity, violence against children, murder (or manslaughter, depending on whose side you’re on), and secondary infertility, are some of the themes wrapped into this weekend where Adele (Kate Winslet) falls in love with a murderer on the run Frank (Josh Brolin) after he strong arms her in a supermarket using her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith).

While I don’t know if my mother would approve of taking strangers home (scratch that, she would never approve) the movie is a clear depiction of life happening to us, regardless of what established norms in our societies are.

Another thing I wasn’t quite comfortable with was Frank hiding at Adele’s but not really hiding. He was out in the front fixing the car, hung out with another child (challenged in his speech but almost gave the game away). I was also quite worried about young Henry’s friend piecing that Henry was going away because the man his mother fell in love with was the one wanted for murder.

Despite these, Labor Day for me was a story of chance meetings, finding love in a hopeless place (literally), and how humans are sometimes quick to judge before examining all the angles of any story.

Did the movie mess with my emotions? Yes. I shed a tear when it seemed like Adele’s life was over because I’ve been in that place, and very recently too. That’s another thing I liked about it, the fact that from the trailer I could relate with it (and no I haven’t been in love with any sort of criminal thank you).

Away from the music, the nibbles were great (president of the foodie club reporting for duty) and I’m grateful for a lovely night courtesy @MumsnetBloggers and @ParamountUK, and an even lovelier movie.

Now, I made sure I only read the reviews after I’d seen the movie (many a good movie experience have been tainted by the lettering of reviewers) and I missed a part all of them spoke nicely about.

And so, I’m going to see it again. I have to.

PS – Did I mention Chiswick Park is breathtaking at night? Wow… the lights, the water, the birds (ended up arguing if they were ducks or seagulls with my friend), oh my.  That’s another place I need to ‘do’ again. I have to!