Pieces of April Review

"PIECES OF APRIL" reviews

Movie

PIECES OF APRIL

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-27 22:16:48

Provider

Review

Films which use the American holiday of Thanksgiving as their centre tend to struggle a bit on this side of the pond. Seeing as we don't celebrate the late-November event, it's often hard for UK audiences to truly grasp the spirit of the holiday and the associated chaos that often ensues.

Fortunately films such as Hannah And Her Sisters and Planes, Trains & Automobiles have proved that you don't need to have a firm grip on your US pilgrim history to understand that Thanksgiving can be just as stressful as Christmas can here.

Pieces Of April stars Dawson's Creek girl-next-door type Katie Holmes as April, a rebellious punk / Goth chick who is trying to mend a rift with her family by cooking them Thanksgiving dinner in her pokey New York apartment. Unfortunately her oven doesn't work, her boyfriend has gone AWOL and her family's drive is proving a bit more eventful than they anticipated.

Written and directed by Peter Hedges, Pieces Of April has some pretty familiar themes running throughout and fortunately none of them are tied in too tightly with the holiday itself.

Holmes does well to shed her all-American girl image as the tattooed and independent April but most of those on show give quality performances. Central to the film is April's relationship with her mother (Patricia Clarkson). Sharp and ascerbic, her engaging character is made all the more interesting by the fact that she worries this will be her last Thanksgiving (she's suffering from terminal cancer) but Hedges never lets you get too sentimental about what may be round the corner for the family. This is about here and now and just getting through the day without strangling each other.

Well written and tidily directed this is charming little indie flick which, despite a rather abrupt ending and short running time, offers enough pathos and quirkiness and hopefully enough word of mouth to ensure it reaches good sized audience.