Labor Day

The lead characters in Jason Reitman's earlier films (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult) are outspoken people who usually go by their own rules. These films are also usually told from their point of view.

So that's what makes Reitman's new film Labor Day feel so different from his other four. The story is told through the eyes of Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith) as he and his mother Adele (Kate Winslet) hide escaped convict Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin) during the Labor Day weekend. A strange premise, sure, but Reitman knows how to keep it interesting.

There's something about the moroseness in Adele's face that has you hoping that something (or someone) will come along and take her sadness away. And whenever she looks happy, the world seems a bit brighter. That's something of Winslet's acting I've always admired. Dour one minute, radiant the next.

Like he did with the stars of his other films, Reitman gets great work out of his actors. Brolin shows a soft nature underneath his tough guy image. Winslet adds another layer to the unfulfilled stay-at-home mother role she's been playing for the past few years. (See also Little Children and Revolutionary Road.) But I feel it's Griffith who's the star of Labor Day. Apart from holding his own against Winslet and Brolin, he provides most of the emotional heft of the film.

Labor Day, although somewhat darker than Reitman's other films, is still a welcoming entry. Bolstered by the three leads' performances, the film provides a mature portrait of nostalgia. Mr. Reitman, I anticipate your next film.

My Rating: ****1/2

Young Adult

It's hard to relive your glory days when you're way past them. It's really awkward for other people to witness this.

You can imagine what's running through Matt Freehauf's (Patton Oswalt) mind when he sees Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) in Jason Reitman's Young Adult. She's scheming to win back her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), regardless of the fact that he's now married and a new father. He thinks it's an impossible task; she finds no flaws in her plans.

By no means does Mavis' recent bad past justify for her plans. Divorced and currently ghost writing the last book of a popular series, she is perhaps trying to recoup what's left of her rapidly fading youth. However, the sad truth is she's an adult. She needs to face reality.

I think what I admire about Theron's performance is that she plays Mavis not as an immature adult but more as a teenage girl in a woman's body. She acts like a teenager, no denying that. (She dubbed a "psychotic prom queen bitch" in one scene.) Her frame of mind is heavily focused on one goal and one goal alone, which, coming from a teenager herself, is all too common for that time in life.

I very much liked Young Adult. Theron and Oswalt are great, as is Diablo Cody's script. (She even gets a jab at Twilight in there.) Reitman has recently become a favorite of mine, mainly for his ability to capture not-exactly-normal life.

My Rating: ****1/2

Thank You for Smoking

Directors withe small filmographies (about 3-5 movies) are easier to keep track of (ie, Malick, Jonze, Mendes).

Tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) has a seemingly impossible task: promoting cigarette smoking when the health hazards of the activity have become too hard to ignore. It's an even harder job since Nick is a father.

Geez, Eckhart's a charming son of a bitch. You want to hate Nick, but his charm prevents you from doing that. But moving on, Thank You for Smoking is a very funny movie. Impressive for a directorial debut (since they usually, you know, suck). Jason Reitman, whose work after this was Juno and Up in the Air, has directed a very enjoyable satire which shouldn't be ignored.

My Rating: ****1/2

Juno

Movies that focus on touchy subjects shouldn't really be comedies. But a few manage to pass the mark.

After an one-time encounter with her friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) finds herself pregnant. She opts to get an abortion, but decides she can't go through that. Instead, she plans to put the baby up for adoption after it's born. She finds Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa Loring (Jennifer Garner), a young couple hoping to adopt, through an ad in the newspaper. As her pregnancy progresses, Juno becomes more connected to the Lorings, her parents and Paulie.

Although I have a thing for quirky movies, Juno is different. It's not too quirky, but it gets on a high enough level for me to like it. With all of the movies that are remakes, reboots, prequels, sequels, blah blah blah, it's refreshing to see an original concept.

My Rating: ****

Up in the Air

That really has to be interesting with Jason Reitman. He managed to upstage his own father as a director, and he only has three movies to his name.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a corporate downsizer who prefers his profession over people. He also wants to achieve ten million frequent flyer miles. But after starting a relationship with frequent flyer Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) and becoming forced to work with new employee Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), he reevaluates his lifestyle.

Knowing Clooney's line of work, he usually plays the charming leading man. Here, he continues doing that role. Farmiga and Kendrick were also good, though I liked Farmiga a bit more. In some scenes, Clooney and Farmiga delivered one-liners much in the same way as Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn did in The Philadelphia Story. Reitman's direction was strong and the screenplay reminded me of those written by Billy Wilder.

My Rating: ****1/2