| PIECES OF APRIL |
 2003 - USADirector:
Peter Hedges - Reviewed by Vickie
Shot on DV over 18 days on a sparse budget, writer-director Peter Hedges' character study about family dynamics follows a young woman named April Burns (Katie Holmes) as she and her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke), attempt to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for her visiting family. Thing is, it's no ordinary Thanksgiving meal. April is the family outcast. The screw-up. She lives in a slum of an apartment and seems to be the source of unending disappointment for, and scorn from, her ailing mother (Patricia Clarkson), who's dying of cancer. April's father (Oliver Platt) maintains an optimistic outlook, but even he starts to question the decision to trek to New York City with the whole family for dinner with his estranged daughter. And poor April. One thing after another goes wrong as she struggles to make the most of what might be her mother's last Thanksgiving. From a broken oven to a frightening attempt at making stuffing to a persnickety neighbor (Sean Hayes, in a delicious, if brief, supporting turn) with a pug, April has her hands more than full. Or does she? Katie Holmes finally lands a role that allows her to shine and that will, one hopes, erase any notions that she'll forever be pigeonholed by her role on Dawson's Creek. With her punky hair, wild clothes and serious attitude, her April is a multilayered character trying her best to overcome her family's limited expectations and her own doubts about herself. She's funny, enterprising, inventive and bold. She's cool and Holmes nails the part. She's also surrounded by a top-notch cast, which makes the film that much richer. Patricia Clarkson is, not surprisingly, excellent, and Oliver Platt provides the perfect warm, goofy contrast to her angled, icy matriarch. Newcomers Alison Pill and John Gallagher Jr. hold their own as April's teenage siblings, and Derek Luke makes a great, earnest boyfriend whose quest to make April's dinner the best it can be proves more than adorable. Peter Hedges has successfully crammed a lifetime of familial angst and history into about a day of screen time. He's proven that he knows how to write characters well (he landed an Oscar nod for his About a Boy screenplay) and everything here is an exercise in subtlety. We're not beaten over the head with character explanation and backstory, but we feel like we know this family and all its quirks just by watching the little things. Salt and pepper shakers shaped like turkeys will wring a surprising amount of emotion from you, I guarantee it. Pieces of April is a great example of how a tight script, talented actors and a determined director can make something beautiful out of pixels and no money. I was inspired. |
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The dawn of the digital-filmmaking era arrived a while ago, and with it
came a few wonderful films (like The Celebration) amid a bevy of
mediocre or downright awful offerings. Pieces of April falls
into the first category.
