SAM

This movie has a beautiful arc, like all great movies must, but the performances are magnificient, especially Kate Winslet, and do much to make the movie what it is. I'm a big fan of Josh Brolin, a great actor, no doubt, but Labor Day would have suffered greatly without Winslet as the lonely, insecure, nervous female lead who is ultimately willing to accept and give unconditional love, whether she initially realized this or not. Until this movie I had no idea Winslet was capable of such a performance, but by the time I saw her in Triple 9 it was once again made clear to me my greater respect for actors who completely transform themselves for a given role. I'm not one for love stories, normally, but this gem is a definite exception.

My first glimpse of Gary Oldman, and for years after seeing this movie I felt he was one of the very best yet most underappreciated actors of our era -- until his superlative performance in Darkest Hour, when he finally got the widespread recognition I feel was so long overdue -- Romeo Is Bleeding is a strange but superb film about greed and desire, and the lengths some will go to get what they want. Watch him in Chattahoochie, Immortal Beloved (great performance, but the movie fell flat for some reason), True Romance, even Mank, but especially The Professional and Dracula, and then go back and watch Romeo, and you'll see all this man's talent and nuance was there all along. I didn't realize he was British until I caught him on a rerun of Friends, then I said D'oh! Yet another great actor out of Britain! Romeo is a classic, perfectly cast. How can you not be seduced by Lena Olin in this movie?