Pieces Of April Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)November 7th, 2003
"Pieces of April"
April Burns (Katie Holmes) and her mother, Joy (Patricia Clarkson), have been on the outs with each other almost since the girl was born. It's Thanksgiving and grown up April thinks it is time to bury the hatchet and invites her estranged family for the holiday dinner. Not known to be much of a cook she vows to herself and her new live-in boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke) to do all of the meal preparation herself. He heads out, on the special day, because he has to do a "thing" as she starts cooking dinner. But, the oven is broken, Bobby is gone and she has guests coming over in a few short hours. Hopefully, she won't have to pickup the "Pieces of April."
Christmas films, rather than Thanksgiving flicks, tend to dominate the holiday movie going season. There are a couple of exceptions that come to mind: the brilliant and heart-rending comedy, "Plains, Trains and Automobiles," and the horrible disaster, "Home for the Holidays," Jody Foster's failed sophomore effort. While "Pieces of April" does not approach the caliber of "Planes," it is far more entertaining than "Home."
April, alone, new to the building and with disaster looming, decides to seek assistance from her neighbors. She tries the door of a series of unhelpful neighbors: a fanatical psycho cat owner; an equally fanatical psycho vegan; and, a black couple who's initial reaction to her plight is derision and some hostility. April, desperate, blurts out her dilemma and tells Yvette and Eugene about her long time problems with her mother, Joy's battle with cancer and April's hope that she can make amends. Yvette, feeling a twang of compassion and understanding, invites her to the use of their oven, at least for a couple of hours before they have to start their own turkey dinner. Now that the crisis is under control April heads off to finish preparing the rest of the dinner and seek out another oven.
She happens upon another neighbor, Wayne (Sean Hayes), a fastidious dog owner who grudgingly lets April use his pristine, new deluxe convection oven. When she pushes off his amorous advances he leaves in a snit and holds her turkey hostage. Now, she has to contend with dinner held prisoner and still needs to finish cooking the bird.
Meanwhile, Joy agrees to attend the dinner at her husband, Jim's (Oliver Platt), insistence and against the advice of her younger, eager to please daughter, Beth (Allison Pill), who is overly protective of her mom. The chemotherapy has taken its toll on Joy and Jim has to pull over frequently when she feels ill. A stop at a Krispy Kreme Donuts shop gives her temporary solace but, as they get closer to their final destination and likely confrontation, Joy has second thoughts.
The story shift back and forth between these two scenarios as April works hard and makes more new friends: an Asian family that speaks little English but, still, understand that she is in trouble and offer their own unoccupied oven. The young woman learns a few things over the course of the day and realizes that her good intentions to make peace with her mom are worth the effort. Joy, also, learns a lesson in life as she vacillates between maternal obligation and fear of further confrontation with her daughter versus the fear of being alienated forever.
"Pieces of April" doesn't cover new ground and the long time conflict between mother and daughter is all wrapped up perfunctorily and in a tidy package by the end of the film. The two stars, Holmes and Clarkson, play apart for nearly the entire film and each is fully in charge of their piece. Supporting cast has some standouts with Oliver Platt giving a sympathetic performance as the father who wants harmony in his family and puts on a brave front over Joy's illness. Derek Luke, though not in the film too much, makes the most out of his likable boyfriend Bobby, especially when you learn about his "thing." Sean Hayes steals the show during his few minutes on screen as Wayne.
Techs are OK with the apartments in April's building each having a personality befitting its tenants.
"Pieces of April" too easily wraps up the lifelong conflict between Joy and April in the end, but there is a good-natured feel that makes it a amiable little holiday film. I give it a B.
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