Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Let's be realistic.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

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.

Although this film is in many ways excellent both from acting and cinematography, it relies quite heavily on a few improbabilities that initially do not distract from your enjoyment. In retrospect however you can't help thinking, woah how did that happen? An escaped ex-con accosts a woman and gently but firmly persuades her and her young son to conceal them in her home, to which she agrees, though somewhat reluctantly. Unlikely? Of course it is, but this is a story after all. We are expected to believe that her loneliness and depression override her common sense. Possible, I suppose, I am no psychologist. Gradually the pair begin a relationship. Turns out this guy although an ex-con, is a real nice guy, does helpful jobs around the house, becomes a father figure to her little boy and even shines in bed. He is, in fact the man of her dreams. Of course, the law eventually catches up with him after various peripheral characters, plus an infuriatingly nosey cop, put two and two together. Result: Mister Nice Guy is banged up for another long stretch in the pen. The final rather unlikely situation: The woman waits for an eternity for his sentence to end and they are reunited in a sentimental final scene. And guess what? He is even more handsome and rugged-looking than he was before, despite being many years older. So, yes a very good and involving film, despite these minor cracks, rather than holes, in the plot.

This is a very beautiful movie full of emotions and complex relationships. At start it may seemed crude and rushed but give it time and you may end up loving it. By the middle I was thinking it has peaked and kept waiting for an awful ending as it is common in such movies. To my surprise the ending was even more beautiful. There were so many ways it could have ended badly leaving a sour taste and washing over the good parts like so many movies do. But it didn't. This is a rare gem!I want to say a lot more about the movie but it may spoil the experience for those who haven't yet watched it. I didn't watch any trailers or other promotional material (I rarely do), so except the basic plot I didn't know what to expect. I don't know how much did they revealed in trailers but its best to avoid them.

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.

This is a very bad movie. From the conception to the execution, it is a bad idea. First, the conception. A divorced mother living with her pre-teen son accosts an escaped prisoner in the supermarket. Even the progress of that scene was too clumsy. The prisoner merely summons the boy, talks him into accompanying him. And, on the way, he steals a jacket and a baseball cap. We are not told whether there is anything in the boy's past that makes him susceptible to this kind of blatant manipulation. It seems to me that he could have simply walked back to his mother, or screamed. It was during the day. There were several shoppers. I presume the store has some security apparatus in place.Then, the mother as the equally naive, but unwitting accomplice. Despite being within earshot of several shoppers, the mother then decides it is a good idea to let this stranger ride with them to their house. Whatever hesitation she had was so tepid, it was barely noticeable. Then, the-I-can't-believe-they-are-trying-to-make-a-romantic-movie- out-of-this chain of events. Predictably, this hunky escaped murderer turns to be quite handy. He can fix cars, he can do things around the house. Heck, he even knows how to cook. At no time did anyone of the other two decide, "hmmm...this is not a good idea. We don't know this guy." Things reach absurd levels of incredulity before the boy wises up, albeit prompted by a smart, but potty-mouthed girl of approximately the same age, and he contacts his estranged father who calls the police. Thereafter, the fugitive is arrested.Oh, but they fall in love in the meantime. Don't tell me you didn't see that coming. And, at the end we learn that upon release, after spending more than a decade in jail, she was still waiting for him. Okay, whatever. Why I hate this movie, apart from the rather pretentious plot and bad execution is the message: that a divorced woman with her young child should take in an escaped murderer in the off-chance that they might fall in love. It makes you shudder at the concept. Please, ladies, do not do this.