Pieces of April
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Movie Reviews of Pieces of April
Movie Review: Touching and Amusing Off-Beat Drama with Excellent Clarkson
Summary: 5 Stars
Peter Hedges, the original novelist/screenwriter of 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?', makes an impressive debut with this touching, off-beat comedy drama, which was made with only (supposedly) about $300,000 budget. And Patricia Clarkson got a well-deserved Oscar nonimation for playing the role of terminally-ill mother Joy Burns with a very wicked sense of humor, who is taking a Thanksgiving holiday to meet her long-estranged daughter April (Katie Holmes in punk costume) in Downtown, New York City.
In the meanshile, April, who is certainly not the best cook in her family, should prepare for the Thanksgivinig Day dinner. A turkey must be roasted in oven, which turns out broken. She knows this will all end up with a disaster, but her kind boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke, who was 'Antoine Fisher' in Denzel Washington film) is buying a suit for the party, so she cannot back up.
The camera switches back and forth between her last-minute efforts and her family in a car heading for NYC (driven by underrated Oliver Platt, who shows very unexpected tender side). During the whole drive, you see Patricia Clarkson, with her deep voice and a sly humor sense, rules the family. She must be obeyed (and she is ill, isn't she?). And we are quite amused, coming to like her for and despite her faults, which perhaps were the original reason of April running away from her home.
The film is digitally shot, the music is sparce, and the running time is only 80 minutes. Perhaps the director wanted more budget to prolong the story, but the existing film can stand on its own. Some may disagree with me, but I like this film as it is ... even though I prefer much clearer, clean-cut, traditional movies shot with film.
'Pieces of April' is strongly recommended as a well-made drama, and if you are kind of a person who shares such emotions as 'Home for the Holiday,' this is the one. And Patricia Clarkson is just fantastic, who should have been given the due recognition by now, probably as much as that of Oscar-winner Holly Hunter.
Movie Review: "Wonderful Indie Film!"
Summary: 5 Stars
With Hollywood intent on making an endless line of stupid sequels and remakes, movies based on bad old TV shows ("CHARLIE'S ANGELS", "LOST IN SPACE"), vapid video games ("TOMB RAIDER", "RESIDENT EVIL"), comic books ("X-MEN", "HULK"), and, yes, "amusement park attractions" ("PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN"), it is good that there are still some filmmakers making movies about people and ordinary life. Last year after suffering through the idiotic film "HULK", I almost gave up on movies period. But then I discovered some truly wonderful films like Sofia Coppola's "LOST IN TRANSLATION", John Sayles's "CASA DE LOS BABYS", "THE STATION AGENT", "THE COOLER" and this truly wonderful film! These films really refreshed me and gave me renewed faith in the film biz."PIECES OF APRIL" deals with the life of a very dysfunctional family on Thanksgiving. I don't want to discuss the plot at length, for I feel it is best to discover the beauties of this film on your own. Suffice to say, the performances are first rate with Patricia Clarkson being a delight in her Oscar nominated performance as Joy, the mother of the clan. And the writing is fantastic. Hedges creates some truly human and believable characters and the film really hits home. The ending is very moving.
The DVD is quite nice. Picture and sound is great and the special features include a 15 minute "behind-the-scenes" look at the film, plus an insightful audio commentary with the writer/ director Peter Hedges. Among the many interesting nuggets of info is the fact that this film was shot in 16 days! Incredible! Also included is the theatrical trailer for this film as well as "CASA DE LOS BABYS" and several other current MGM titles on VHS and DVD.
Truly a wonderful little gem of a film that will delight just about everyone who loves good films. Check it out, I'll think you'll like it! -George Bauch.
Movie Review: Absolutely Superb Film!
Summary: 5 Stars
PIECES OF APRIL, written and directed by Peter Hedges, is simply a stunning little movie. Hedges has found the quintessential dysfunctional family and manages to make us love every looney one of them. The method of back and forth story telling - parents and children preparing for and driving into Manhattan for their estranged daughter's Thanksgiving coupled with the concurrent Manhattan set of the preparation of that dinner - works incredibly well without detracting from the momentum and flow of the story development.April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives in the seediest part of New York City and is the daughter who rebelled from her rather nutty family: she is tattooed, pierced, weirdly dressed, living in a rat hole tenement with her African American boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke). Never having cooked before, she invites her crazy family to Thanksgiving dinner (despite the fact that her oven is broken, she knows nothing about preparing a turkey, etc). Her preparations are aided by at least some of her fellow apartment dwellers. Meanwhile, her mother Joy (Patricia Clarkson, in a hallmark performance) who has had bilateral mastectomies for cancer and is on chemo + pot + bulimia + has a history of being slightly mad, her sweet flummox father Jim (Oliver Platt) who tries desperately to hold his family together, her 'just perfect sister' Beth (Alison Pill), her adolescent photographer brother Timmy (John Gallagher, Jr) and her senile but sweet grandmother (Alice Drummond) are all under duress at the thought of visiting April for the eating holiday. The way this all comes together is one of the funniest, saddest, and most tender and insightful stories to come out in a long time. The way Hedges treats cancer, senility, sibling rivalry, lost child syndrome, multiethnic questions, and family fragility is nothing short of genius. This is a superb metaphor for alienation, acceptance, compassion, and mutual respect. Recommended without reservation.
Movie Review: Subtlties can be more powerful than spelling it out
Summary: 5 Stars
Pieces of April is a movie about bonding and family relationships. On a thanksgiving day, April Burns was cooking a meal for her family in her apartment with her boyfriend (who happened to be an African American). Her mother, Joy Burns (Patricia Clarkson) had breast cancer and it was probably her last thanksgiving in her life. Therefore, the whole family drove all the way to New York to meet the once-rebellious daughter. On the trip, the whole family had to overcome their prejudgement of the daughter and accepted the fact that they were going for the (faking of) reconciliation among different family memebers. April, however, found that her stove did not work at all. She ran to every door to seek help inside the building. She met the African-American couple who told her that nobody liked canned food and advised to her go for home-made. She met a strange, meticulous, gay-looking neighbour called Wayne, who only helped her half-bake the stuffed turkey. She finally sought help from a Chinese family who did not speak English at all. Piece of April not only brings family members together, but also people who live next to you, but you seldom know their names. People of different races, cultures or backgrounds are no longer in alienation. Choices and decisions and forgiveness bind them all together in the ending scene. The movie is short, but absolutely well-made. The dialogues are witty and highly symbolic. Peter Hedges did a fantastic job in writing the screenplay. The cinematography and editing certainly help create an experimental but true-to-life mood for the audience. Pieces of April is absolutely a surprise for the audience. I thought of comparing this movie to Thirteen (another movie that came up last year about a rebellious daughter and her mother), but in fact, I found the subtlties in the dialogues in Pieces of April are more powerful than simply showing everything naked in the big screen.
Movie Review: "Mom, April is *the* problem."
Summary: 5 Stars
In PIECES OF APRIL April (Katie Holmes), the family black sheep, scours her building for an oven that works as she attempts to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for her relatives in the dilapidated tenement home she shares with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). She wants no help from Bobby in cooking her 15-pound turkey, which she hopes will please her mom (Patricia Clarkson), dad (Oliver Platt), brother, sister, and grandmother. On Thanksgiving morning April's family is reluctant to make the trek into New York City to a family member that is better left forgotten. They pig out on Krispy Kremes, take the scenic route, and plan for concealed methods to dispose the holiday meal while seating at the table. It is clear that her family would love to be anywhere else but with April for the holidays. Cruising down the road in an older-model station wagon with wood paneling and stopping occasionally to allow the mother to vomit from her cancer treatments and even to bury a roadkill, the audience wonders whether they will even reach their intended destination in time for dinner.
There are several touching moments in PIECES OF APRIL: April's statement that she is "the first pancake" in the family (thus meant to be thrown away), April's interactions with the immigrant Chinese family in her building (esp. the scene of her trying to explain why Thanksgiving is celebrated), and the (sad) incident of April's sister singing in the car. Most importantly, the emotions and fears pertaining to the mother's illness depicted by each family member were greatly hard-felt and very well portrayed.
PIECES OF APRIL is a wonderful holiday film that enables the audience a glimpse of one family that is far from perfect. It is full of laughs and sincere sentiments of this one particular day in their lives.