Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!!!
Review: I seldeom write reviews but had to make an exception. I am a jaded movie viewer who has been, for some time, looking for a movie that would not only open my eyes to the human condition but entertain me as well. I had no expectations when I put this film in my DVD player but WOW it surpassed all expectations. It is without a doubt the most perfect and realistic film made in over 50 years. I actually cried at the end and I NEVER cry at movies (except for "Fried Green Tomatoes")April is a "lost child" who decides, despite the fact she's a vegetarian, to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family. Everything goes wrong but she is unwavering to make the day a success. She sacrifices and sacrifices. I don't want to say too much about what happens because that is the beauty of the film. I am so glad I did not know too much about it and so I enjoyed watching the events unfold. I recommend this movie for anyone who's ever tried hard to please loved ones. I recommend it for anyone who's wanted to open their hearts despite disapproval. It is, quite simply, a movie that will deliver much joy and happiness to anyone who watches it with an open mind. Loved it.
Rating:
Summary: A Thanksgiving Holiday Never to be Forgotten
Review: I just finished watching Pieces of April on DVD and although a bit skeptical midway through the movie, I must say that by the end this film moved me as few others have in recent memory. The story of a family traveling to their daughter for a holiday dinner is an oft told tale. But in this case the daughter April has abandoned the suburbs of her parents home to live in the East Village quite unlike what her parents consider normal. Once involved with a drug dealer and on drugs herself, now April hopes to forge a memory for her parents, brother, sister and grandmother this year. For April and her family may not have this chance again since April's mother is gravely ill and knows that her time is running out. But then April finds the oven in her apartment isn't working, and she is force to rely on the goodness of her neighbor's to cook her turkey. As April's parents travel to the city we watch their car ride as they reminisce about their family and April. At the same time we watch as April forges friendships with her black neighbors, Asian neighbors and a strange man devoted to his dog. The outcome is both surprising and heartbreaking as finally the family comes together in more ways than just a holiday dinner. I watched the end of this movie crying as I thought of how families spend holidays, the lack of communication between generations within a family and often the lost opportunities within families as members move far away or die. This is at times a difficult movie but it is a worthwhile and thought provoking film. In addition first rate performances by Katie Holmes as April and Patricia Clarkson as Joy, her mother, are wonderfully poignant and believable. I do highly recommend this movie and happy holiday no matter when and what you celebrate.
Rating: 
Summary: I'll just videotape myself making dinner next time
Review: How many times have you thought to yourself while watching the charming road movie "The Daytrippers", "Jeez, this movie would be Perfect if they just replaced the charming Hope Davis with a whiny Patricia Clarkson, swapped out the infinitely watchable Parker Posey with an unconvincingly punked-out Katie Holmes, and replaced all the great male leads with some no-name doofus, Sean Hayes stretching way beyond his ability to do so, and the charismatic blackhole Oliver Platt!" How many times have you thought that? None? Surprise, surprise. Why, then, did this movie get made? Did we really need to add a "People making dinner unsuccessfully" entry to the film canon. Is this supposed to go next to Harrison Ford's "How to check into a foreign hotel" opus Frantic? Someeone help me figure this out.
Rating:
Summary: Great surprise.
Review: I don't know what made me rent this movie, but boy oh boy, I was pleasantly surprised! I love watching food network, so watching this poor girl struggle through this dinner, trying to find ovens in strangers homes to cook her turkey, due to her own oven being dead, of all the days of the year, was heart warming.
Ive never been a big fan of Katie Holmes, but she is great as a bit grungy, passionate and real April, far cry form her days on Davson's Creek, where her rolling eyes and immature faces were annoying. She gives a great performance, alongside of Patricia Clarkson, her cancer ridden mother.
You must see it to believe it. The cinematography is a bit rough but cozy, this movie feels so different than any other movie you see these days. Great filck, and a very pleasant surprise.
Rating: 
Summary: Charming and heartfelt
Review: THe best overall word for this one is: Sweet. While there is some cynicism and bitterness to the characters, the overall effect is one of emotional honesty charged ith nervous humor. The performances are great in this one. Clarkson, of course, but also Holmes and Platt are particularly moving. This borders on the sentimental, but doesn't go cross the line. I dare you not to be moved by this one.
Rating:
Summary: Underrated Masterpiece
Review: Every now and again, a bright young person with a passion for writing and cinema, comes up with an original idea, often loaded with a personal input and background, writes a brilliant script, and secures limited finances to adapt his/her 'labor of love' to the big screen, after signing some known and excellent actors, who are keen to encourage new talent on one hand, and to do something different on the other. Peter Hedges is such a person, and his personal 'labor of love' is this underrated little gem of a movie, Pieces of April.
This movie really did blow my mind, and is one of the best I have seen in a long while, more so since I had no expectations at all, having only the faintest idea about it, a somehow misleading one, since it is labeled as a 'quirky comedy'.
Not only was Pieces of April anything but a 'quirky comedy', it is a film with its simplicity yet equally deep themes, that have touched me greatly.
Filmed with a digital camera,the dreamy almost 70s mood, enhances the whole atmosphere of the film, and removes any unnecessary gloss.
An estranged daughter living in New York with a new boyfriend in a squalid flat prepares a Thanksgiving meal for her family. Her oven does not work, so she struggles to borrow her neighbor's ovens (a collection of eccentrics) to finish a 'perfect meal' before her parents, mother, father, grandmother, brother and sister arrive.
At the same time, the traveling family journey becomes one down memory lane, with all its happy and tragic moments.
It seems simple enough, but there is much more:
The mother has cancer, and it will probably be the last Thanksgiving she will have with her family.
At this point (and having a personal experience with this malign disease) I can say that I have yet to see a film that portrays the physical and emotional effect that cancer has on its sufferer so well without too much explanations or dialog, and with NO sentimentality!! It was very powerfully written and filmed albeit tragic.
The mother we feel is still the rock that every member of her family leans on for support, a role that she now finds as a sort of a burden, which increases her feelings of guilt and desperation.
Of course, the daughter manages at the end to finish her meal, due to the kindness of a Chinese family, and after some hesitation and soul searching, her family finally arrives and with a series of snapshots to commemorate this event, the film ends with a message of hope and reconciliation.
As much it is Peter Hedges's film (his first feature after writing the screenplays for What's eating Gilbert Grape, Map of the World and About a Boy) it is also Patricia Clarkson's film!
As the possibly dying mother, she is responsible for lifting Pieces of April from a sweet independent film to the powerhouse that it turned out to be..
All other actors are very good, especially Oliver Platt and Katie Holmes who I believe is not only a very beautiful woman, but with the right roles, can make very good films (and finally forget the debacle of Teaching Mrs Tingle).
Sean Hayes, who is one of my favorite comedians, has a short role as an eccentric neighbor with a brand new oven. His performance was good, but I am afraid he should be careful not to be typecast in these sort of performances and I expected more from him.
What works so well in favor of the film is its length, just under 80 minutes, it does not dwell too much on the before or after, but rather concentrates on the present which in itself with the dinner and the journey is enough to give us the glimpses that we need to sympathize and connect with the characters, and to be totally engaged in their story. (the only other film that comes to my mind where its length contributed to its success was the 80 minutes Patrice Leconte's Monsieur Hire)
So as I mentioned Pieces of April is not a comedy, but a drama lightened up with a gentle humor, a film about love, bonding, reaching out, and most importantly it is about personal and collective HEALING..A must see film that you should definitely add to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: A quirky, charming movie about family
Review: April Burns decides to invite her estranged family to her new apartment in New York's Lower East Side to enjoy a homemade Thanksgiving meal and to meet her new boyfriend, Bobby. Problems start to crop up, though, as her stove breaks down and she must hunt through her apartment building (on Thanksgiving Day) to find a stove that works. Jim and Joy Burns have problems of their own, with their other two children trying to convince them not to go to April's and the whole family struggling with Joy's terminal illness and their feelings regarding April. Writer/Director Peter Hedges has crafted a quirky and uniquely charming film, with more of a home movie look to it. At times, this detracts from the film because a few of the shots are unsteady. The cast is wonderful, with Katie Holmes as April, Oliver Platt as Jim Burns, the wonderful Alice Drummond as Grandma Dottie, and Derek Luke as Bobby. Patricia Clarkson is fantastic as Joy Burns, juggling her feelings toward her estranged daughter with her terminal illness and her family's treatment of her. Also making a fine appearance is Sean Hayes as Wayne, the man with the new stove who lives in 5D. The cast works very well together, bringing home the message that family means togetherness no matter what. The DVD contains both the Full-Screen and Widescreen versions of the film along with audio commentary and a nice "Making Of" featurette. The movie had me both laughing and near tears toward the end, and just left me with a good feeling. It's definitely a charming film.
Rating:
Summary: Subtlties can be more powerful than spelling it out
Review: Pieces of April is a movie about bonding and family relationships. On a thanksgiving day, April Burns was cooking a meal for her family in her apartment with her boyfriend (who happened to be an African American). Her mother, Joy Burns (Patricia Clarkson) had breast cancer and it was probably her last thanksgiving in her life. Therefore, the whole family drove all the way to New York to meet the once-rebellious daughter. On the trip, the whole family had to overcome their prejudgement of the daughter and accepted the fact that they were going for the (faking of) reconciliation among different family memebers. April, however, found that her stove did not work at all. She ran to every door to seek help inside the building. She met the African-American couple who told her that nobody liked canned food and advised to her go for home-made. She met a strange, meticulous, gay-looking neighbour called Wayne, who only helped her half-bake the stuffed turkey. She finally sought help from a Chinese family who did not speak English at all. Piece of April not only brings family members together, but also people who live next to you, but you seldom know their names. People of different races, cultures or backgrounds are no longer in alienation. Choices and decisions and forgiveness bind them all together in the ending scene. The movie is short, but absolutely well-made. The dialogues are witty and highly symbolic. Peter Hedges did a fantastic job in writing the screenplay. The cinematography and editing certainly help create an experimental but true-to-life mood for the audience. Pieces of April is absolutely a surprise for the audience. I thought of comparing this movie to Thirteen (another movie that came up last year about a rebellious daughter and her mother), but in fact, I found the subtlties in the dialogues in Pieces of April are more powerful than simply showing everything naked in the big screen.
Rating:
Summary: Touching And Funny
Review: Katie Holmes stars in the comedy "Pieces of April". It uniquely combines drama and comedy brilliantly. The writers prove that they know where to place the substances. It contains lots of unique humor that is rarely used in other films. Most of it comes unexpectedly, which keeps audiences' eyes wide open for every second. As the struggles increase, the intensity increases. The two story lines combine as one movie greatly: April struggling to create the perfect Thanksgiving get-together at her apartment and her estranged family traveling there with a lot of drama. Though the film runs only seventy-four minutes, the cast and crew made perfect use of what they had. Katie Holmes is wonderful in her role of April, which asides her from her previous works due to her wardrobe and her lifestyle. She proves that she will stay in the spotlight for many more years. Patricia Clarkson shines in her Oscar nominated role as April's mother, who's dying of cancer. All other actors also perform their roles wonderfully: Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes, and more. Everyone, including Holmes and Clarkson, offers their own sense of genre, which adds more flavor to the film. "Pieces of April" is a great film for those looking for a unique comedy. This is sure to please many audiences for a long time. The laughs will keep coming regardless amount of viewings. They never get old. This is one scene to anticipate: April talking to a 911 operator: "Hi! I'd like to report a kidnapping. There's a guy holding my turkey hostage. My turkey....my turkey....my turkey."
Rating:
Summary: IT SUCKED!!
Review: I concur with another reviewer that this movie was not very good at all. I was so bored and the cinematography was terrible, with unsteady cameras and the like. It was a royal waste of my time and the only reason I kept watching was because I was SURE it was going to get better, but the only good thing was the snapshots at the end where her mother decides to come after all.
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