Tagline: She’s the one in every family.
Katie Holmes is outstanding as the title character in Peter Hedges’s Pieces of April. Katie Holmes stars as April Burns, the black sheep of her family who has left suburbia for a Lower East Side tenement.
Pieces of April is an American comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Hedges. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The name is taken from a 1972 hit song by Three Dog Night, which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
April Burns, the eldest daughter in a highly dysfunctional family, lives in a small tenement apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her boyfriend Bobby. Although estranged from her family, she opts to invite them for Thanksgiving dinner, probably the last for her mother Joy, who has breast cancer.
The film focuses on three journeys: the family’s arduous trek from suburbia to New York City, punctuated by stops for Krispy Kreme doughnuts, bagels, Joy’s frequent need for a restroom or a joint to ease her pain, a burial service for an animal they hit, and various arguments and recriminations, as well as discussions of their disappointment in April; Bobby’s efforts to find a suit so he can make a good impression on his girlfriend’s relatives; and April’s preparations for the meal, a near disaster when she discovers her oven is broken. With the help of various neighbors, she manages to assemble dinner, while learning to appreciate the importance of family and making some new friends in the process.
Directed by: Peter Hedges
Starring: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes, Derek Luke, Susan Bruce, John Gallagher Jr., Alison Pill
Screenplay by: Peter Hedges
Cinematography by: Tami Reiker
Film Editing by: Mark Livolsi
Music by: Stephin Merritt
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, sensuality, drug content, nudity.
Studio: United Artists
Release Date: October 17, 2003
