Praised for his sharp comedy work that made the likes of Juno and Up In The Air such successes, director Jason Reitman makes an awkward shift to darker, solemn material with Labor Day, a respectable, but not quite there adaptation of Joyce Maynard. Left despondent by the breakdown of her marriage, single mother Adele (Kate Winslet) has become trapped by her own unwillingness, leaving son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) to pick up the slack. Continue reading “Review: Labor Day (2014)”
In recent years, American comedies have lost their way. Instead of eliciting engaging, prickly characters that resonate, Hollywood has become stuck in a rut, churning out bland, tedious and sex-obsessed comedies that offer little or no substance (think Bad Teacher and The Hangover Part II). Diablo Cody, in her third feature as screenwriter, subverts this new-fangled tradition with Young Adult, a film that ventures deep into the relatable shadow of human behaviour to pitch-perfect avail.
Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron), an egotistical and reprehensible ghost writer of an ever-diminishing young adult series, has hit a road block in her life. Disillusioned Continue reading “Review: Young Adult (2011)”
Empty Screens 