January 11, 2004 -- “Pieces of April” is the best movie about Thanksgiving in a long time, maybe ever. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that Americans have a hard time coming to grips with. What are we supposed to be celebrating, the wholesale slaughter of the Native Americans and the theft of their lands? Slavery? Wars of conquest? This movie explores Thanksgiving, and it also gives us a bittersweet look at a family trying to reunite one last time for Thanksgiving dinner in the desperate hope it will provide some good memories.

The heart of the story is the strained relationship between April (played by Katie Holmes of “Phone Booth”) and her mother, Joy (Patricia Clarkson of “The Station Agent”). April has been banished from the family for years for being overly rebellious. Since Joy is dying of cancer, her husband, Jim (Oliver Platt of “Ash Wednesday”) has conspired with April to try to make one last Thanksgiving dinner go smoothly. He wants desperately for Joy to have some good memories of April.

On the Thanksgiving Day car trip from the suburbs to April's tiny apartment in New York, Jim and Joy try to remember one good memory of April. They can't. Joy wants this trip to work, maybe more than anyone else, but for whatever reason, she can't forgive April's past sins, and can't take any more disappointments. Joy has seized the occasion of her impending death as an opportunity to be toxically self-indulgent. She uses her illness as a way to bully the others and to finally get what she wants. Joy no longer has to compromise in her life. She does not have to be agreeable any more, and she is not.

Their other daughter, Beth (Alison Pill of “Perfect Pie”) is extremely jealous of April and is afflicted with an extreme case of perfect daughter syndrome. She tries every way she can to sabotage the trip. Her presence in the film is like the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard. Great acting by Pill, but who needs this character? The film doesn't. April's brother, Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.) is along for the ride, trying hard to survive all the toxicity pouring out of his mother and sister. Ditto for Jim. He spends the whole film gritting his teeth and trying to keep the family in one piece. Also along for the trip is Grandma Dottie (Alice Drummond of “In and Out”). She has a hard time remembering her own family. This is painful to watch.

April, on the other hand, doesn't know how to cook. She finds out at the last second that her oven doesn't work (she hasn't used it before). Her live-in boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke of “Antwone Fisher”) has gone off on a lengthy adventure to find a decent suit to wear for the dinner. April desperately goes from room to room in her apartment building, trying to borrow the use of someone's stove so she can cook the turkey. She encounters a cross-section of unhelpful New Yorkers before encountering a kindly older couple, Evette and Eugene (Lillias White of “Interview With the Assassin” and Isiah Whitlock Jr. of “The 25th Hour”). They let her use their stove for an hour or so, but then she has to find another stove to finish cooking the Turkey. This leads her to the anal-retentive, vengeful Wayne (Sean Hayes of the “Will & Grace” TV series). He's got a great stove he's willing to share, but no social skills. This leads to a strange, funny conflict.

Despite all that heavy dying mother stuff, this is about equal parts comedy and drama. Plenty of humor arises from April's turkey quest and funny stuff also happens during the long trek to April's house. This is not really a depressing film. It offers some good insights, not only into this dysfunctional family, but into Thanksgiving itself. There is a wonderful scene in which April tries to explain Thanksgiving to a family from China, through an interpreter. It is a funny, revealing and insightful exploration of the meaning of Thanksgiving.

I was more impressed by Katie Holmes performance than that of Patricia Clarkson, who is getting all the Oscar buzz. Clarkson gives a performance which is compelling, but doesn't show much emotional range. I thought Clarkson's performance was better in “The Station Agent,” which is also a better film than this. I also like Derek Luke, who plays Bobby. He's a terrific actor. Of course, Oliver Platt is always great. Some of the situations were a bit forced, as if the script was trying a bit too hard to produce overly quirky or overly stereotypical characters, but April and Bobby were always believable. The squirrel burying scene was definitely forced. This is a very good film by writer-director Peter Hedges (“About a Boy”). It rates a B+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2004 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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