Pieces of April
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Movie Reviews of Pieces of April
Movie Review: A Thanksgiving Holiday Never to be Forgotten
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished watching Pieces of April on DVD and although a bit skeptical midway through the movie, I must say that by the end this film moved me as few others have in recent memory. The story of a family traveling to their daughter for a holiday dinner is an oft told tale. But in this case the daughter April has abandoned the suburbs of her parents home to live in the East Village quite unlike what her parents consider normal. Once involved with a drug dealer and on drugs herself, now April hopes to forge a memory for her parents, brother, sister and grandmother this year. For April and her family may not have this chance again since April's mother is gravely ill and knows that her time is running out. But then April finds the oven in her apartment isn't working, and she is force to rely on the goodness of her neighbor's to cook her turkey. As April's parents travel to the city we watch their car ride as they reminisce about their family and April. At the same time we watch as April forges friendships with her black neighbors, Asian neighbors and a strange man devoted to his dog. The outcome is both surprising and heartbreaking as finally the family comes together in more ways than just a holiday dinner.
I watched the end of this movie crying as I thought of how families spend holidays, the lack of communication between generations within a family and often the lost opportunities within families as members move far away or die.
This is at times a difficult movie but it is a worthwhile and thought provoking film. In addition first rate performances by Katie Holmes as April and Patricia Clarkson as Joy, her mother, are wonderfully poignant and believable. I do highly recommend this movie and happy holiday no matter when and what you celebrate.
Movie Review: What a wonderfull movie ... it's a blast ...
Summary: 5 Stars
OK so everybody says that it's a movie about a dysfunction family ... LOL ... well I disagree, believe me if a movie crew and a director came into most families during a Thanksgiving dinner we would probably discover that many of our own family members could be considered as pretty wierd and dysfunctional. Matter of fact I'd kinda say a dysfunctional family is the normal family ... Yup the days of June Cleaverand 'the Baeaver' are long long gone .....
April Burns played by Katie Holmes decides to invite her estranged family for a Thanksgiving dinner at her pretty well slum like apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She gets up in the morning to find her gas stove broken, her boyfriend has already left to surprise her by buying a new suit, and the turkey is frozen. On the other hand her family is driving to NY and needless to say there is a lot of trepidadtion cause April is the black sheep of the family. April's mom played by Oscar nominated (for this role) Patricia Clarkson is a cancer victim and pretty wild in her own right. It's not a stretch to imagine mom and daughter getting together and sparks literally flying ....
Although Clarkson got the nomination I think that Katie Holmes playing April is nothing short of stupendous and plays a very very believable and lovable role without coming across as white trash .....
As far as character studies its one of the better written movies I have seen for some time ... you'll love to vicariously watch a family go through the annual agony of that famous 'family' Thanksgiving dinner ... and no year is complete without it ......
Movie Review: Touching And Funny
Summary: 5 Stars
Katie Holmes stars in the comedy "Pieces of April". It uniquely combines drama and comedy brilliantly. The writers prove that they know where to place the substances. It contains lots of unique humor that is rarely used in other films. Most of it comes unexpectedly, which keeps audiences' eyes wide open for every second. As the struggles increase, the intensity increases. The two story lines combine as one movie greatly: April struggling to create the perfect Thanksgiving get-together at her apartment and her estranged family traveling there with a lot of drama. Though the film runs only seventy-four minutes, the cast and crew made perfect use of what they had. Katie Holmes is wonderful in her role of April, which asides her from her previous works due to her wardrobe and her lifestyle. She proves that she will stay in the spotlight for many more years. Patricia Clarkson shines in her Oscar nominated role as April's mother, who's dying of cancer. All other actors also perform their roles wonderfully: Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes, and more. Everyone, including Holmes and Clarkson, offers their own sense of genre, which adds more flavor to the film.
"Pieces of April" is a great film for those looking for a unique comedy. This is sure to please many audiences for a long time. The laughs will keep coming regardless amount of viewings. They never get old. This is one scene to anticipate:
April talking to a 911 operator: "Hi! I'd like to report a kidnapping. There's a guy holding my turkey hostage. My turkey....my turkey....my turkey."
Movie Review: Brings a tear to your eye
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie was so touching. It's crazy because this reminds me so much of my family it's almost depressing. So April (Played by the ever wonderful Katie Holmes in what I believe to be her best performance ever) is cooking thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family including her dying mother Joy (Clarkson in an amazing role deserving of her oscar nod), her overwhelmed and loving father Jim (Platt in an equaly impressive role, for him that is) and her two siblings, Timmy and the annoying, want-to-slap-her-in-the-face-and-call-her-a-b!+@# sister Beth. Oh yeah, and her grandmother. So the family travels across the state to NY to see April, while she struggles to bake a turkey. Her boyfriend Bobby (Luke) tries to make everything alright and is very optimistic about the outcome of the day. You'd think that a film about baking a turkey would be boring, but it's soooooo much more than that. This film is about acceptance and family and most importantly love...as April puts it perfectly, it's realizing that you can't do it alone. This is a very underrated film with a great cast that gives the best performaces of their carrers here and I feel need a little more recognition for that. Katie Holmes is slated as the cute one from Dawson's Creek, but given a few more roles like this one and she may see an oscar in her future...I would recomend this movie to anyone, it's that good...giving you a look at what real life is like, what your actions have on your family and how anyone at anytime can change...it's all about making memories, new memories to counteract the bad ones.Movie Review: Thanksgiving in the Dysfunctional Family
Summary: 5 Stars
April is the Burns family outcast, the "bad" eldest daughter. April lives in a rundown apartment in New York and invites her family over for Thanksgiving dinner to meet her new boyfriend, Bobby. April's mom, ironically named Joy, is dying of breast cancer and this could be April's last chance to connect with her. April's invitation is taken by her family as one more example of her selfishness. Her sanctimonious sister Beth asks, "Should Mom even be traveling?" Joy wears a silly bouffant wig, she's nauseated from her chemotherapy and is tired of her family's constant solicitousness. The old ways aren't working for Joy anymore. Her illness has isolated and marginalized her the same way she has isolated and marginalized her daughter April. In the meantime, April discovers the turkey she bought is too big for the apartment's stove. She knocks on all her neighbors' doors to see if she can use their oven. April's neighbors treat her with the kindness and recognition that she's never received from her own family. Maybe April's not so "bad" after all. This is a beautiful, small film. Its plot is not only about April learning to see herself outside of her family's definition of her, but about Joy's coming to terms with the loneliness that that her illness brings. Only stubborn self-assertion can keep Joy alive and make her remaining months worth living. And who can understand that better than April, bravely setting the Thanksgiving table with her thrift-store dishes in the face of her family's disdain? It's the story of her life.