Retro View Wednesday: Pieces of April

Pieces of April

Picking up the Pieces…..

Pieces of April sometimes feels more like a glimpse into one girls day than an actual movie. Writer/Director Peter Hedges makes a warm sarcastic comedy about one girl making Thanksgiving dinner for her family. The premise is simple, but the execution is exquisite in the way that independent digital features are. The movie suffers from a really horrible transfer that gives it a handheld documentary feel, but it also lends itself to seem more real. The lower east side photographed by Tami Reiker feels gritty and washed in jagged lighting with dull rendered colors. For its realism something refreshing comes from its sitcom’ish plot.

The Burns family sets out to for a Thanksgiving dinner at April’s run down crummy apartment. Her mother knowing that this will be a failure goes anyway because she is dying and needs to settle something with April. It’s very important that April and her mother have this closure, so the father- Jim makes every effort possible to make this a good experience. The remarkably talented Patricia Clarkson takes the reign on this indie feature giving a performance that is heart wrenchingly deep and real. Clarkson plays Joy Burns a mother suffering from cancer and living her days at home with her husband and two kids. The family treats Joy like some kind of puppy, speaking to her quietly and suffering her with to much empathy. Joy has a sarcastic wit about her and makes her imposing death feel like an everyday burden. This women has no time for public politeness and nauseating small talk. Patricia is an indie favorite giving powerful performances in little known films, but here she completely outshines the cast and even the script, which never seems to meet her at the same standard of excellence. Joy has a bratty daughter played by new comer Alison Pill. Unlike “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” , Alison shows real potential on screen. Her Tracy-Flick like character is a complete windbag goody girl only wanting to be liked by her mother. She suffocates her mother and at the same time the movie. Alison shows depth as Beth Burns in scenes that don’t ask her to be a pain in the rear, sadly those are to far in between. Joy also has a son played by the excellent John Gallagher. John doesn’t have much to do on screen, except a few road show antics, but the character of Timmy Burns comes off the exact pot head that he’s supposed to.

Playing the family dad is an impressive if not boorish Oliver Platt. There isn’t much really to work with playing Jim Burns, but Platt gives the material his best shot. Some scenes are touching, but most are tedious and at times to self contrived. For some reason the cooky Grandma Dottie is dragged along for the ride doing nothing more than looking out a car window. I bet the actress Alice Drummond was wondering why she even was in this movie or maybe she didn’t even know she was in a movie.

So, all the family is driving to the big bad city for April and April is at home trying to prepare an unforgettable meal. Watching April try to put a decent meal together is like watching a blind man driving- things just keep going wrong. April is played by the innocent Katie Holmes (ie before Tom Cruise). As April, Katie gives a sweet sheep dog performance and completely smoothes any rough edges April is supposed to have. Even dressed like an Elvira impersonator she still has that twinkling Dawson’s Creek presence about her. She’s actually too cute to play April, but Katie tries her best. The performance is endearing, but maybe too much so for a movie like this. April’s boyfriend is played with genuine nice guy attitude by Derek Luke. As Bobby, Derek has an almost too cool presence for this movie and really makes another great choice from his career changing role in Denzel Washington’s Antwon Fisher.

When Bobby leaves the house to run some errands for a very unnecessary side plot, April is left to cook the bird. Watching Katie try to cook the meal is the funniest thing in the movie, but I did worry if the family was going to die of food poisoning. When she finds that her oven is not working she goes door to door to see if someone will let her cook her bird. Of course she meets wacky people in her building, but none are endearing or memorable. Sean Hayes from Will and Grace shows up to only damper the script even more and make the movie feel like a fetish stalker picture. While Katie tries to hold up the movie, there are some scenes of true comic timing and incredible wit. For this, Katie shows that she could be the next hot indie chick and even a great actress (editors note: spoke way too soon!)

The movie is nice and really heart warming towards its final scenes, but it brings nothing to the genre and there is only a spark of genuine perfection. Peter doesn’t give the script the same time and originality that he gave his masterful “What’s eating Gilbert Grape”, but he does show why he is an indie standout. This movie really belongs to the superb Patricia who steals the movie from its own story and really makes it about one mothers journey. In my opinion there could have been a far superior movie there, but for now this sweet tale will do.

Final MovieFIX:

***1/2 out of 5. 70% Recommended. Thanksgiving never looked more like a task for nuclear scientist, but Patricia steals the picture and gives the performance of a lifetime. Katie sheds her good girl image to only look like a good girl bubbly punk goth.