Pieces of April

Rating

Director

Peter Hedges

Screenplay

Peter Hedges

Length

80 min.

Starring

Katie Holmes, Derek Luke, Oliver Platt, Alison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Alice Drummond

MPAA Rating

PG-13 (For language, sensuality, drug content and images of nudity)

Review

Thanksgiving dinner is a time when all across America families get together to honor each other and give thanks for all that they have gotten. Pieces of April is about one such Thanksgiving experience that no one in the family will soon forget.

April Burns (Katie Holmes) is newly out on her own and has decided that this year she wants to invite her family over to celebrate it with her. The only problem is that she and her mother have had a falling out and it’s apparent that she wants to make her mom proud. The film is told in three sections that blend from scene to scene into an emotional conclusion.

Holmes shows us April’s desperation as she prepares dinner and many events thwart her every move. Her oven doesn’t work and she starts on a mad dash to find someone in her apartment building who will share their stove. She finds many who turn her away but is blessed to find three different people who will help her cook her bird. The problem is that each of them has different problems of their own, including a lonely woman-hungry snob who does everything he can to keep April coming back to his apartment. An African-American couple whose Thanksgiving dinners are filled with great cooking and discussion about why April wants to have such an event when she and her mother aren’t on good terms. And the other is an Asian-American family that doesn’t celebrate thanksgiving but enjoy hearing her tell of the first Thanksgiving.

These varied events are intercut with scenes from April’s mother and father (Oliver Platt and Patricia Clarkson) as well as her brother and sister (John Gallagher Jr. and Alison Pill) through writer-director Peter Hedges’ skilled hands. The best of the film’s dialogue comes from April’s mother Joy. Clarkson helps the character emote a range of emotions from disgust to happiness. She thinks the dinner will be a disaster and only her husband Jim can keep her in control. Joy is also dying of breast cancer and realizes this may be one of her last Thanksgivings. In one rather inspired scene, Clarkson shows us her brilliant talent as she tricks her family into believing they are going to hear a speech about her impending death but turns the conversation into a jab at her daughter’s impending failure.

The third segment surrounds her boyfriend Bobby’s (Derek Luke) attempt to secure a suit for the wedding he wants to give April. Through Hedges’ terrific irony, we’re made to believe that Bobby is involved in some nefarious activities but when a group of thugs tries to beat him down, we learn the truth about the situation.

Pieces of April is about troubled lives: a daughter trying to prove she can live on her own and still remain faithful to her family; a mother attempting to avoid a likely confrontation with her daughter about her life and infirmities while ignoring her own; a father who wants to bring everyone together peacefully; and a boyfriend who wants to make a good impression.

This is one of the few living, breathing, realistic cross sections of American culture. The film shows us that we’re no longer a country built on shiny, happy 1950s family sitcom stereotypes. It shows us instead that no matter what the differences, a family can still try to work them out and bring about a calm reflection on what it is truly like to love and be loved, even in the face of conflict.

Review Written

March 28, 2004