Labor Day | Scott's Film Reviews-1,550 Reviews posted!!! Check out my TOP 250 Favorite Films and TOP 40 Horror Films!!!

Picnic-1955

Director Joshua Logan

Starring William Holden, Kim Novak

Top 250 Films #81

Scott’s Review #550

Reviewed December 19, 2016

Grade: A-

Picnic is a classic 1955 film that is wonderful to watch over Labor Day weekend or anytime during the summer.

The film perfectly depicts summertime in a tiny town in Kansas. It is a slice-of-life story about life in middle America during the 1950s, despite its trials and tribulations.

William Holden stars as a “wrong side of the tracks” type of guy who arrives in a quiet Kansas town on Labor Day weekend, disrupting the town’s events and causing scandals for the townspeople.

He is a hunky former college football player and exudes sexuality.

He then falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend, Madge Owens, played by Kim Novak. The chemistry between the two stars is the film’s main appeal.

The supporting cast makes this film unique (Arthur O’Connell and Rosalind Russell star as townspeople who are in a relationship of their own).

Picnic also features a gorgeous, lovely musical score, specifically “Theme from Picnic” and “Moonglow”.

It is shot on location in Kansas, mostly in and around Hutchinson, and is considered classic summer enjoyment.

Based on the Pulitzer-award-winning play.

Oscar Nominations: 2 wins-Best Motion Picture, Best Director-Joshua Logan, Best Supporting Actor-Arthur O’Connell, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Art Direction, Color (won), Best Film Editing (won)

Golden Globe Nominations: 1 win-Best Director-Joshua Logan (won)

Labor Day-2013

Director Jason Reitman

Starring Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin

Scott’s Review #116

Reviewed July 17, 2014

Grade: B+

Labor Day (2013) is quite simply a modern love story.

Set in 1987 on a hot Labor Day weekend in New Hampshire, a boy and his mother are approached by an escaped convict pleading for help.

They reluctantly agree, and what follows is a weekend of mixed emotions and bonding among the three.

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin have great chemistry as the leads, and although the film feels like it was set in 1987, it looks quite modern.

The woman is divorced and insecure and bordering on being a shut-in. The son is more like the parent, taking care of her and running errands.

An older version of the son narrates the film (played by Tobey Maguire). Questions run through the viewer’s mind throughout the film, which is a major positive.

Can the convict be trusted? Is he guilty or is there more to the story? Is the mother falling for him or pretending to escape?

All the action plays out over one weekend while the town is on high alert and everyone searches for the escaped convict, and most of it takes place in the family home, giving the film a stage-production feel.

The film includes tense moments and flashbacks of both the convict’s and the woman’s lives before they meet, so we, as viewers, get to know them well.

Despite their differences, the couple has a rooting value to them thanks to Brolin’s and Winslet’s talents.

Labor Day (2013) is a well-made film that received little recognition.