Pieces of April (2003)

From What's Eating Gilbert Grape to his adaptation of About a Boy, Peter Hedges has specialized in showing the warmth and humanity of oddball outsiders. April (Katie Holmes) most certainly fits into that mode as the black sheep oldest daughter who has invited her suburban family into the big city to make Thanksgiving dinner for them -- even though she has no clue how to cook. The scenes in the apartment building are erratic in quality. For every good scene between April and her kind African-American neighbors, there are dull sequences like the ones involving an oddball who lives upstairs (Sean Hayes in a performance which shows that the first-time director exercised little control over his actors). April's trials and tribulations in preparing the meal are contrasted with her family's trip to the apartment. Hedges the screenwriter so economically establishes everyone in the family in their opening scene that much of what transpires during the first half of their adventures feels redundant. Patricia Clarkson is good as the sarcastic, icy cancer victim mother. You can see why her oldest child attempted to get away from her, and why her two remaining children continuously attempt to one-up each other in her eyes. Oliver Platt gives the best performance in the film as a loving father and family peacemaker, privately on the verge of a complete emotional breakdown at the thought of losing his wife. His character feels like he came from a different and much better movie. Pieces of April provides a fine if uninspired starting point for Hedges' career behind the camera, but it marks a low point in an otherwise stellar career as a screenwriter. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide