Pieces of April
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Pieces of April
Plot
Novelist and screenwriter Peter Hedges makes his directorial debut with the comedy drama Pieces of April. Family outcast April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). In order to spend some time with her dying mother, Joy (Patricia Clarkson), April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. She discovers that her oven is broken the morning of the big day, so she goes around her tenement building trying to find a sympathetic neighbor with a working oven. Though she doesn't know them, neighbors Eugene (Isiah Whitlock) and Evette (Lillias White) offer the use of their oven, but only for an hour. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April's lifestyle. Dad Jim (Oliver Platt) tries to think positively, while daughter Beth (Alison Pill) flaunts her good-girl status and son Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.) captures it all on film. Shot with digital video, Pieces of April is a project of the Independent Film Channel's InDigEnt production company. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
Review
From What's Eating Gilbert Grape to his adaptation of About a Boy, Peter Hedges has specialized in showing the warmth and humanity of oddball outsiders. April (Katie Holmes) most certainly fits into that mode as the black sheep oldest daughter who has invited her suburban family into the big city to make Thanksgiving dinner for them -- even though she has no clue how to cook. The scenes in the apartment building are erratic in quality. For every good scene between April and her kind African-American neighbors, there are dull sequences like the ones involving an oddball who lives upstairs (Sean Hayes in a performance which shows that the first-time director exercised little control over his actors). April's trials and tribulations in preparing the meal are contrasted with her family's trip to the apartment. Hedges the screenwriter so economically establishes everyone in the family in their opening scene that much of what transpires during the first half of their adventures feels redundant. Patricia Clarkson is good as the sarcastic, icy cancer victim mother. You can see why her oldest child attempted to get away from her, and why her two remaining children continuously attempt to one-up each other in her eyes. Oliver Platt gives the best performance in the film as a loving father and family peacemaker, privately on the verge of a complete emotional breakdown at the thought of losing his wife. His character feels like he came from a different and much better movie. Pieces of April provides a fine if uninspired starting point for Hedges' career behind the camera, but it marks a low point in an otherwise stellar career as a screenwriter. ~ Perry Seibert, RoviCast
- Katie Holmes - April Burns
- Patricia Clarkson - Joy Burns
- Oliver Platt - Jim Burns
- Derek Luke - Bobby
- Alison Pill - Beth Burns
Credit
Dianne Dreyer - Associate Producer, Bernie Telsey - Casting, Will Cantler - Casting, David Vaccari - Casting, Lucille Masone Smith - Co-producer, Lucy Barzun - Co-producer, Laura Cunningham-Bauer - Costume Designer, Vebe Borge - First Assistant Director, Peter Hedges - Director, Mark Livolsi - Editor, John Sloss - Executive Producer, Caroline Kaplan - Executive Producer, Jonathan Sehring - Executive Producer, Stephin Merritt - Composer (Music Score), Rick Butler - Production Designer, Tami Reiker - Cinematographer, Gary Winick - Producer, John Lyons - Producer, Alexis Alexanian - Producer, Holly Becker - Producer, Aaron Rudelson - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Hedges - Screenwriter| Pieces for Circuits / Works for Mind / Body (Film), Pieces d'Identites (1998 Film) | |
| Pieces of China (1926 Film), Pieces of Dreams (1970 Film) |
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Pieces of April
| Pieces of April | |
|---|---|
 Original poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Hedges |
| Produced by | Gary Winick |
| Written by | Peter Hedges |
| Starring | Katie Holmes Derek Luke Sean Hayes Alison Pill Oliver Platt Patricia Clarkson |
| Music by | Stephin Merritt |
| Cinematography | Tami Reiker |
| Editing by | Mark Livolsi |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $300,000[1] |
| Box office | $3,272,028[1] |
Pieces of April is a 2003 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 #19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Contents
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Plot
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, one 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; 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.
Cast
- Katie Holmes as April Burns
- Derek Luke as Bobby
- Oliver Platt as Jim Burns
- Patricia Clarkson as Joy Burns
- Alison Pill as Beth Burns
- John Gallagher, Jr. as Timmy Burns
- Alice Drummond as Grandma Dottie
- Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as Eugene
- Lillias White as Evette
- Sean Hayes as Wayne
- Sisqó as Latrell
Production
In his commentary on the film's DVD release, Hedges says the inspiration for his screenplay was twofold — his mother's battle with and death from cancer and a true story about a group of friends whose plans to prepare a communal Thanksgiving dinner were thwarted by a broken stove.
Reception
Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 84% based on reviews from 146 critics, with an Average Rating of 7.1/10, and declares it "Certified Fresh".[2]
Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times, called the film an "intelligent and touching farce" and added, "Mr. Hedges dances from one vignette to another with a mouthwatering finesse."[3] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said "it contains much good humor" and "has a lot of joy and quirkiness; it's well-intentioned in its screwy way, with flashes of human insight, and actors who can take a moment and make it glow."[4] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine, described it as "a playful comedy laced with heartbreak," adding, "It's Holmes who holds Pieces together . . . [she] nails every laugh without missing the dramatic nuances. She makes April and her movie well worth knowing."[5] Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film " both heartfelt and tough-minded . . . [it] avoids sentimentality at every turn and truly earns both its laughs and its tears."[6]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, rated the film C, calling it a "glib comedy" and adding, "Hedges shoves his characters into sitcom slots and seals them there."[7]
Box office
The film earned a total of approximately $3.2 million worldwide.[1]
Awards and nominations
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Clarkson, nominee)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Clarkson, nominee)
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (Clarkson, nominee)
- Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Dramatic Performance (Clarkson, winner)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay (nominee)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, nominee)
- British Independent Film Award for Best Foreign Film (nominee)
- Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- Chicago International Film Festival Audience Choice Award (Peter Hedges, winner)
- Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical (Clarkson, winner)
- Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (Clarkson, winner)
- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay (nominee)
- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Overlooked Film of the Year (winner)
- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Directing Breakout of the Year (nominee)
- Humanitas Prize (Hedges, nominee)
See also
References
- ^ a b c http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=piecesofapril.htm
- ^ "Pieces of April (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pieces_of_april/.
- ^ Elvis Mitchell (2003-10-07). "FILM REVIEW; Second Helpings Of Hollow Cheer". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE6D8173EF934A25753C1A9659C8B63.
- ^ Roger Ebert (2003-10-24). "Pieces of April". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031024/REVIEWS/310240303/1023.
- ^ Rolling Stone review[dead link]
- ^ Carla Meyer (2003-10-24). "Fraught holiday in 'Pieces of April'". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/24/DD125794.DTL.
- ^ Owen Gleiberman (2003-10-31). "Pieces Of April (2003)". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc.. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,526053,00.html.
External links
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Mentioned in
Chuck Negron: Live and in Concert
(Music Film)
Olu Iwa
(1986 Album by Cecil Taylor)
Seven Separate Fools
(1972 Album by Three Dog Night)
Peter Hedges
(Writer, Director, Actor, Comedy Drama/Drama)
Pieces of April
(2003 Album by Original Soundtrack)
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