5. Jason Reitman - Labor Day
I'm not quite sure why the Oscar blogosphere seems to be relatively antipathetic towards Labor Day's awards prospects. Hit 85 MPH in a DeLorean and travel way back to the year 2009 and you will read breathless anticipation of Jason Reitman's Up in the Air practically anointing the film Best Picture before its release. Since that time, Reitman has turned in one film, 2011's uncompromising dark comedy, Young Adult, which did end up striking a blank at the Oscars but was nowhere near enough of a flop to conclude Reitman has lost his mojo. In fact, previous to Young Adult's complete shut out, Reitman had been somewhat of a darling to the Academy. His second feature film, Juno, cracked the Best Picture lineup (back when there were still only five nominees in the category) and earned Reitman his first Best Director nomination. His next film, the aforementioned Up in the Air, went over just as well with the Academy, adding the terms "Oscar-nominated writer" and "Oscar-nominated producer" to Mr. Reitman's CV. I hardly think then one misstep (if you can call it that) would cause Reitman to be relegated to the Oscar B-team, which is why I am comparatively optimistic about Labor Day's Oscar prospects in a number of different categories. The film, based on the novel by Joyce Maynard, tells the story of a struggling single mother and her teenage son who happen to pick up a distraught hitchhiker on their way home from the market. This mysterious man turns out to be an escaped convict on the run from the fuzz and the criminal decides to hold both mother and son hostage in their home over Labor Day weekend. The film is said to be a bit more straightly dramatic than most of Reitman's previous work, which usually had at least a tinge of cynicism and satire in the flavor. It may be because of this supposed change in tone that some are reticent to declare Labor Day a legitimate awards player, but in all honesty, I doubt it is that much of a stretch for the director. Up in the Air was actually fairly earnest and straight-forward, and while Labor Day may lack the light-hearted humor that permeated that film, it demonstrated Reitman's ability to speak without smirking. It may be just that people have tired of Reitman's shtick (as could be the case with Alexander Payne's Nebraska), and if this is true, then Labor Day is in trouble indeed, but other than this possibility, I wouldn't be so fast to discount Reitman's chances.