Pieces of April

PIECES OF APRIL (12)

D: Peter Hedges

United Artists (Gary Winick)

US 2003

81 mins

Comedy/Drama

W: Peter Hedges

DP: Tami Reiker

Ed: Mark Livolsi

Mus: Stephin Merritt

Katie Holmes (April Burns), Derek Luke (Bobby), Oliver Platt (Jim Burns), Patricia Clarkson (Joy Burns), Alison Pill (Beth Burns), John Gallagher, Jr. (Timmy Burns)

Katie Holmes plays April, the rebellious black sheep of the Burns family who plans for a Thanksgiving reunion as her distant parents and siblings make the long drive from suburbia to the slummy side of New York.

This low-key independent film, released in 2003, is reminiscent of similarly toned films released a decade earlier. There isn't much meat to the story, as April panics over getting her turkey cooked and there's a subplot involving April's cancer-suffering mother, but it really is a postage stamp plot. Despite that, good performances make it watchable, especially Patricia Clarkson, whilst Katie Holmes delivers her best performance in a feature film.

At a mere 81 minutes, it does tick over quite nicely.

6/10