Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2014

An escaped murderer (Josh Brolin) gently “persuades” a damaged, agoraphobic widow (Kate Winslet) and her 13-year-old son (Gattlin Griffith) to shelter him from his pursuers. The threat level nosedives when it turns out he’s an accomplished chef, an adept mechanic, and a fair baseball coach. Just the guy to make them all whole again. Okay, you’re thinking “Nicholas Sparks” calculated contrivances, right? Well, no, but the truth is worse. While this weepy is not uniformly awful, it’s a disappointment coming from Jason Reitman, who has delighted us with such groundbreaking films as Juno and Up in the Air. (111 min)