November 27, 2009

Pieces of April - 2003

Director: Peter Hedges
Writer: Peter Hedges
Starring: Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt, Patricia Clarkson

"Once, there was this day... this one day when... everyone realized they needed each other." April (Holmes) and her new boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke), outcasts in every sense of the word, experience Murphy's Law firsthand when preparing Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family, including a cancer-ridden mother (Clarkson) and dementia-suffering grandmother.

A lot of big Hollywood stars like to do a small indie picture every so often, to maintain the belief that they haven't sold out entirely yet; for Katie Holmes, this is that film. However, this is her best performance to date (although one scene when she's calling out recipes during sex is a little odd, though that's not her fault entirely). What the movie lacks in budget (shot for either 100 or $300,000), it more than makes up for in warmth and depth. If nothing else, it serves as a great reminder that no matter how awkward or horrible your family gatherings might be, someone's probably having a worse one at the same time.

1 comment: