An erotic dessert-making scene in the Golden Globe-nominated Jason Reitman drama Labor Day will form the centrepiece of this year's national pie day, which takes place in the US on 23 January, just ahead of the film's release.
Paramount, the studio behind the drama, which stars Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet, has partnered with the American Pie Council for the event, which seeks to promote the virtues of the baked pud.
Labor Day, for which Winslet received a Golden Globe nomination for the best actress in a drama, features a moment that has been compared to the famous pottery scene involving Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in 1990's Ghost.
Winslet stars as a single mother who finds herself attracted to Brolin, who plays an escaped convict. Having forced his way into her house following an encounter in a supermarket, Brolin instructs Winslet and her teenage son on how to bake the perfect peach pie, to increasingly sexy effect. Sample lines include: "Sometimes the best tool is the one attached to your body," and "You are right on the verge of crumbling." There is also a reference to "salty crusts" that has provoked some sniggering in screenings.
The No Country for Old Men star reportedly learned genuine pastry-making skills to play the dangerous chef. "He would make pies for everybody," Reitman told the Wrap in November. "At first it was really charming – you'd think, 'Oh my gosh, Josh made me a pie.' And by the end of the shoot it was, 'Oh fuck, here comes Josh with another pie. Everybody run'."
Winslet added: "I still have his pie dish in my kitchen in England. He would say, 'I'm going to bake you a pie,' and I would say, 'Oh Josh, thank you, that would be lovely.' Two weeks later: 'Hey, I need that dish back, I'm going to bake you a pie.' 'Oh, OK.' And this fucking dish would go back and forth, until in the end I was like, 'You know what? You've got to stop with the pies now'."
Labor Day hits US cinemas on 31 January and will open in the UK in late March.
The American Pie Council has set up a competition on its Facebook page for one winner to enjoy a private viewing of Labor Day in their home town for 50 friends. It is not known whether there will be baked incentives.
