Pieces of April (2003)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Peter Hedges

Writer (WGA):

Peter Hedges (written by)

Release Date:

19 February 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

She's the one in every family.

Plot:

A wayward daughter invites her dying mother and the rest of her estranged family to her apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.

Plot Keywords:

Thanksgiving | Thanksgiving Dinner | Apartment | Dysfunctional Family | Neighbor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 14 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Katie Holmes	...	April Burns
Derek Luke	...	Bobby
Oliver Platt	...	Jim Burns
Alison Pill	...	Beth Burns
John Gallagher Jr.	...	Timmy Burns
Patricia Clarkson	...	Joy Burns
Alice Drummond	...	Grandma Dottie
Vitali Baganov	...	Half Asleep Man
Lillias White	...	Evette
Isiah Whitlock Jr.	...	Eugene
Adrian Martinez	...	Man in Mohair Sweater
Susan Bruce	...	Tish
Jamari Richardson	...	Boy on Bicycle
Leila Danette	...	Woman in Stairwell
Stephen Chen	...	Lee Loung Tan

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, sensuality, drug content and images of nudity.

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M (cable rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Chile:14

Filming Locations:

Bear Mountain, New York, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

The logo on Bobby's t-shirt is that of the German army (Bundeswehr).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bobby goes out, April is shown with a bandage on her finger, long before she actually cuts it.

Quotes:

Bobby: You didn't even know my mother and I pity you for that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pieces of April: All the Pieces Together (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Xiqing

New Traditions Meet Old Over the Streets and Up the Stairs

"Pieces of April" is a wonderful New York component for a trilogy of mordant but ultimately sweet holiday movies, along with the Parisian "La Buche" and the multi-ethnic L. A. "What's Cooking."

I particularly identified with Katie Holmes's character's incompetence at cooking Thanksgiving dinner when the other women in the theater were laughing uproariously at her efforts and I wasn't even sure what she was doing wrong, other than focusing like I would do more on the decorations than the food preparation.

Screenwriter and debut director Peter Hedges filmed in poorly lit digital video on an evidently minuscule budget but with a terrific cast and mise en scenes.

The characters who embark on parallel picaresque odysseys in a quaintly but believably diverse Lower East Side tenement and suburbs to city road trip are refreshingly individual and un-stereotyped in surprising directions, even if the actors may overdo the theatrical flourishes. Sean Hayes especially over-fusses his neighbor bit. Patricia Clarkson is marvelous as a mother with daughter issues and cancer.

There was nary a dry eye in the house at the end.