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Showing all 10 reviews...
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Great performances. Great script. Funny. Thoughtful. Optimistic.
10/10
6.4.2004 -
astleyp@ - age: 36-49
I thought it was an interesting film, it makes you appreciate your family. I thought the shots that were filmed were incredible, and I guess you could say it was a beautiful film... all around enjoyable.
8/10
1.2.2004 -
blueye420@ - age: 13-17
Great little movie. Go see.
8/10
27.1.2004 -
ptoleme@ - age: 36-49
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I thought Pieces of April was a great movie. It made me laugh and cry all the way through. The characters were great and depicted the 'average' disfunctional family. Everyone will identify will at least one character in this film. I felt pleased after the movie was finished and that I got my money's worth. Go to it and you will feel good after.
8/10
26.1.2004 -
camille_dyer@ - age: 18-25
Great little movie... About a plain story and great acting... Probably the best thanksgiving movie ever made!!! Not that there is a lot of them but it is definitely worth the look. Patricia Richardson plays wonderfully the role of a sick mother... I smell Oscar nomination!
8/10
23.12.2003 -
tony82@ - age: 18-25
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Love from yourself, your family, your freinds and your partners are all required to make someone complete. Note: I loved the movie.. but you must be willing to see a good nice sincere independent film not a huge hollywood picture. It's slow moving as a movie but the beauty is in the whole display of the movie, seeing the actual 1: 30 and how looking into the life of this character (April) changes the way you see her from the begining.
9/10
20.11.2003 -
sacoca@ - age: 18-25
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Good film, but not great. I'm glad to see Katie Holmes taking a risk with this kind of film, but overall, I felt that the film had too many weaknesses. I did enjoy Patricia Clarkson, as always, but I thought Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) was wasting his talent in this weak, undeveloped role.
6/10
14.11.2003 -
montreal_mike_19@ - age: 18-25
Although it seems a bit slow, this is a good movie. April getting to know her neighbors is a good lesson of life. The whole family is hard on her throughout the film, a side of her we can't clearly see. A good movie to see with someone you love. Hurry up, it won't stay in the cinema very long, but don't miss the dvd.
8/10
13.11.2003 -
maliergo@ - age: 36-49
Go see this movie and you won't regret it!
10/10
10.11.2003 -
patapouf27@ - age: 18-25
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[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
The dawn of the digital-filmmaking era arrived a while ago, and with it came a few wonderful films (like The Celebration) amid a bevy of mediocre or downright awful offerings. Pieces of April falls into the first category. Shot on DV over 18 days on a sparse budget, writer-director Peter Hedges' character study about family dynamics follows a young woman named April Burns (Katie Holmes) as she and her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke), attempt to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for her visiting family. Thing is, it's no ordinary Thanksgiving meal. April is the family outcast. The screw-up. She lives in a slum of an apartment and seems to be the source of unending disappointment for, and scorn from, her ailing mother (Patricia Clarkson), who's dying of cancer. April's father (Oliver Platt) maintains an optimistic outlook, but even he starts to question the decision to trek to New York City with the whole family for dinner with his estranged daughter. And poor April. One thing after another goes wrong as she struggles to make the most of what might be her mother's last Thanksgiving. From a broken oven to a frightening attempt at making stuffing to a persnickety neighbor (Sean Hayes, in a delicious, if brief, supporting turn) with a pug, April has her hands more than full. Or does she? Katie Holmes finally lands a role that allows her to shine and that will, one hopes, erase any notions that she'll forever be pigeonholed by her role on Dawson's Creek. With her punky hair, wild clothes and serious attitude, her April is a multilayered character trying her best to overcome her family's limited expectations and her own doubts about herself. She's funny, enterprising, inventive and bold. She's cool and Holmes nails the part. She's also surrounded by a top-notch cast, which makes the film that much richer. Patricia Clarkson is, not surprisingly, excellent, and Oliver Platt provides the perfect warm, goofy contrast to her angled, icy matriarch. Newcomers Alison Pill and John Gallagher Jr. Hold their own as April's teenage siblings, and Derek Luke makes a great, earnest boyfriend whose quest to make April's dinner the best it can be proves more than adorable. Peter Hedges has successfully crammed a lifetime of familial angst and history into about a day of screen time. He's proven that he knows how to write characters well (he landed an Oscar nod for his About a Boy screenplay) and everything here is an exercise in subtlety. We're not beaten over the head with character explanation and backstory, but we feel like we know this family and all its quirks just by watching the little things. Salt and pepper shakers shaped like turkeys will wring a surprising amount of emotion from you, I guarantee it. Pieces of April is a great example of how a tight script, talented actors and a determined director can make something beautiful out of pixels and no money. I was inspired.
10/10
7.11.2003 -
katiehfan@ - age: 18-25
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