First, we have a question: Does anyone watch USA network's "Suits"? If so, is it any good? While we wait for answer, it seems Jason Reitman is a fan, casting actor Tom Lipinski in his upcoming film "Labor Day." The twist here is that he'll be playing the younger version of Josh Brolin (who himself plays the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones in "Men In Black III" — this will all make a good movie trivia question some day).
The project has been lined up as Reitman's next for a while, with Brolin and Kate Winslet signing on for the leads last summer. Based on Joyce Maynard's book of the same nane, the film is set on a late summer Labor Day holiday weekend in the 1980s. And it opens with a divorced, depressed single mom (Winslet) who encounters a large, fearsome man named Frank (Brolin) — who also happens to be bleeding badly – while clothes shopping with her 13-year-old Henry. He asks for a ride and against their better judgment, they agree. Meanwhile, they learn that police are searching their town for an escaped convict and put two and two together. Are they his hostages, or his accomplices? As the mother and son gradually learn his true story, everyone's options begin to shrink.
Lipinski will play Frank in flashbacks, a man who returns from Vietnam to marry his high school sweetheart, who has lost her innocence since he went away. But the key bit of casting to be made is the part of Henry, whose perspective is used to tell the story. When we spoke to Reitman in November, he gave the impression he was looking for a fresh face for the part. “We’ve got to find someone very special,” he said simply.
Filming is expected to kick off in June, and we're pretty excited to see Reitman yet again move in another interesting direction. [Variety]