By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Alice Drummond | Alison Pill | Derek Luke | Isiah Whitlock Jr. | John Gallagher Jr. | Katie Holmes | Lillias White | Oliver Platt | Patricia Clarkson | Sean Hayes
Country: united_states
Year: 2003
Running time: 81
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0311648/combined
Diane says: “Well, the Village Voice might have called it ‘a gluttonous buffet of Sundance clichés, with an acid-reflux aftertaste of condescension and unexamined racism,’ but I’m giving it 5 cats!
“PIECES OF APRIL was another delight–the story of a rebellious daughter trying to reconcile with her family one Thanksgiving. I felt that it effectively went up against stereotypes and the characters were strong and realistic. It’s short, but pithy, with a beautifully sweet ending to a caustic and hilarious story.
“Soundtrack by Stephen Merritt and The Magnetic Fields is great. I’ll be nom’ing this for screenplay and some perfs (e.g., Patricia Clarkson) at least.” 5 cats
Laura says: “Dysfunctional families are de rigeur for Thanksgiving films and PIECES OF APRIL delivers. This caustic look at the Burns family ranges from flinchingly funny to downright creepy while April’s adventures in her own apartment building run the gamut from sweet to sinister.
“Two distant clocks announce 7:01 a.m. April’s new boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke, ANTWONE FISHER) puts the heavy sleeper into the shower fully dressed before the duo begin showing their ineptness in the kitchen (a turkey stuffed with a whole onion and celery stalks). Meanwhile dad Jim (Oliver Platt, LAKE PLACID) wakens to panic when he doesn’t find his wife at his side. After rude reactions for startling teenage children Beth (Alison Pill) and Tim (John Gallagher, Jr.), the threesome all become frantic until mom is found fully dressed, already waiting like an accusation in the family car.
“Supportive Bobby leaves on a mysterious mission, already out of earshot when April discovers their oven doesn’t work. After getting nowhere with the building super, April knocks on the door of 2B and finds a militant middle aged black woman, Evette (Lillias White, INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSASSIN), who scoffs at the idea of a young white woman having a problem. Minutes later, April’s story has her in tears and Evette begins a turkey relay while her husband Eugene (Isiah Whitlock Jr., 25TH HOUR) offers up serious cuisine tips. When April’s allotted time is up with the oven in 2B she has a run in with a vegan in 4A, then the truly demented Wayne (Sean Hayes, TV’s ‘Will and Grace,’ in full Crispin Glover mode) in 5D who takes her bird hostage over an imagined slight before settling in with a delightful Asian family.
“Meanwhile the ironically named Joy regurgitates a past with April in which she cannot find a single good memory while spearing ‘perfect’ daughter Beth with sharp words and conniving in an unhealthy relationship with son Tim. ‘Why am I so hard on you? Because we had good times’ (this is the script’s sole explanation for her softening towards April later, presumably because they had none.) ‘Who are you?’ asks Joy’s mother Dottie (Alice Drummond, THE LOVE LETTER), her question coming from more than her dementia. Jim desperately tries to keep the peace, April’s only defender.
“Hedges never makes the true nature of Joy and April’s past clear. Joy’s bad recollections are bolstered by sister Beth, but that could be a case of sibling rivalry from the overtly competitive sister. Tim’s obsession with photographing every family moment (shades of CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS) culminates in a truly creepy sequence where it is revealed that he took shots of mom before and after a mastectomy. Hedges puts Jim in the long suffering wife role. Yet while his family politics are a bit murky, Hedges does a wonderful job delivering a holiday message without becoming cloying.
“Holmes, her history only hinted at by her goth punk look, plays April tentatively, fitting for a girl trying on new relationships while taking a stab at mending a fractious one. She conveys the hurt inflicted by her mother in a nicely played scene with Luke, when his gift of turkey salt and pepper shakers bring back a painful memory. Luke is wonderfully sweet, a too good to be true partner who is nonetheless believable. That this thoroughly lovable young man loves April makes her mother and sister’s recollections suspect. Clarkson drips bitterness like venom, only showing vulnerability when alone, rejecting the tiring solicitations of her family. Pill is terrific as the annoyingly perfect Beth. The smile which freezes upon her face when her mom belittles her is sickeningly accurate. Adding a true note of total lunacy is Hayes, whose obsessively dweebish behavior barely conceals something more disturbing. It’s unclear what he expects from April – undying gratitude or sexual favors – for the use of his designer appliance. White and Whitlock inject much needed familial warmth along with that working oven.
“While the inevitable mother/daughter reunion that takes place at the film’s conclusion is slightly earned, the dark comedy and perfectly structured intercutting that keeps the two stories moving forward leading up to it make PIECES OF APRIL a holiday classic for the art house crowd.” 4 cats
courtesy of Reeling Reviews
Michael says: “I will be very interested to hear what others say about this film if they see it. I must confess that it really surprised me. The trailers for the film made me nervous, and the mixed reviews didn’t help. Yet PIECES OF APRIL earns its holiday sentiment, and is the Thanksgiving movie for me, that neither the caustic HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, nor the sentimental WHAT’S COOKING? failed to be.
“Katie Holmes’ (GO) April refuses to get out of bed, despite her loving boyfriend’s (Derek Luke of ANTWONE FISHER) urgings. She seems to know that the day will not go well. Her estranged family are coming to her NYC apartment from New Jersey for Thanksgiving dinner. After Luke’s Bobby dumps April unceremoniously into the shower, she rises to the occassion in her own inept way, stuffing the turkey with a whole onion and celery stalks. After Bobby leaves on a mysterious mission, true disaster strikes April as she discovers that her stove does not work.
“In New Jersey, we see the painfully dysfunctional family get its own start. Earnest dad (Oliver Platt), panics when he can’t find his wife, the ironically named Joy (a venomously biting Patricia Clarkson) upon waking up. Neither of his children, the perfect Beth and the photographer Tim no where Mom is either. They find her dressed and ready to go in the family auto, deflecting their earnest questions about how she’s feeling, and already dripping her sarcastic venom.
“Mom’s dying of cancer, and this is April’s last chance to try to make a good family memory that involves her. While April encounters increasingly bizarre hijinks trying to find a stove in the apartment building, and Bobby’s mysterious mission unfolds, the family history slowly unfolds in pieces during the car ride to NYC.
“There is, of course, the expected, cathartic family reunion, but I found it thoroughly moving. The characters earned this moment. They’ve been through hell, they’ve had their childish pasts, it’s time to grow up. Clarkson is terrific, as usual, whether tossing barbs at her perfect daughter Beth, or growing increasingly frantic that she can’t think of a single happy memory involving April. Holmes is convincing as a young woman whose made mistakes, yet still has a daughter’s resentment battling with a child’s longing for a mother’s love deep within. Luke’s Bobby is almost too good to be true, but somehow he makes it believable. The entire cast really captures the pain of a family scarred by both fractious pasts, and the ravages of a terminal disease.
“PIECES OF APRIL was written and directed by Peter Hedges who wrote WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE, and last year’s ABOUT A BOY. His writing skills weren’t in doubt, but his directing skills proved worthy of the task.
“Two last comments: Stephen Merrit (of the Magnetic Fields) provides much of the soundtrack, and his music just makes me weep, both with joy and sorrow, at the first few notes. The new song he penned for the dinner reunion just soars with feeling.
“And has anyone else noticed that Patricia Clarkson has now co-starred with three of the four alums of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ this year? (Check out THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS for Joshua Jackson, and THE STATION AGENT for Michelle Williams.) When is her film with James Van der Beek coming?” 4 cats