Jason Reitman’s ‘Labor Day’

The first trailer for Jason Reitman’s awards entry Labor Day has finally arrived.  The film, set to open in limited engagement on Christmas Day, stars Academy Award winner Kate Winslet as a single mother who harbors an escaped convict (Josh Brolin) and eventually falls for him over the Labor Day holiday weekend.  The film is based on Joyce Maynard’s acclaimed 2009 novel.  It marks the fifth feature film from Reitman following his successes Juno and Up In the Air, both of which were nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award and netted Reitman directing Oscar nominations.

Labor Day premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and followed up with a screening at the Toronto Film Festival where the film was greeted with muted reviews, but praise for Reitman’s deft understanding of the material and marked change of pace from the more snarky humor of his past films.  Winslet and Brolin both received kind words for their performances, as did Gattlin Griffith (Changeling) who plays Winslet’s young son in the film.  Clark Gregg (The Avengers), James Van Der Beek (Varsity Blues) and Tobey Maguire (The Great Gatsby) co-star.

Here’s the online trailer which debuted yesterday on SlashFilm:

And here’s the theatrical trailer: