Pieces of April: Amazon.ca: Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Alison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Alice Drummond, Vitali Baganov, Lillias White, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez, Susan Bruce, Peter Hedges, Alexis Alexanian, Caroline Kaplan, Dianne Dreyer, Gary Winick, Holly Becker, John S. Lyons: DVD

Product Details

Actors: Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Alison Pill
Directors: Peter Hedges
Writers: Peter Hedges
Producers: Alexis Alexanian, Caroline Kaplan, Dianne Dreyer, Gary Winick, Holly Becker
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English, French
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Dubbed: French
Region: Region 1 (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
MPAA Rating:
Studio: MGM (Warner)
Release Date: Feb 24 2004
Run Time: 80 minutes

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (63 customer reviews)

ASIN: B0000VV4OK
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #33,813 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A heart-warming story that any person in a dysfunctional family can relate to April 5 2012

By V. Gimbe

Format:DVD

Anyone coming from a dysfunctional family should watch this with those family members they don't get along with.

This is about parent-child relationships gone sour. Here, we see a mother who is afraid of seeing her daughter for fear of having yet another bad memory, not realizing that those bad memories are much of her own doing.

The acting is great, but I think that this is largely thanks to the excellent directing. Katie Holmes (the daughter), an actress who usually gets on my nerves, is perfectly credible and you feel like rooting for her the whole time. Patricia Clarkson (the mother), an actress I like very much, does not deceive. The rest of the cast is just as good. The script is very believable, far removed from the usual superficial Hollywood scripts. Everything in this movie is real: the way people dress, the way apartments are furnished and most notably the way people speak to each other. This is something most people, except those born to be millionnaires, can relate to.

This is not the usual movie theatre movie - it is much more than that. It is also funny to boot. Worth every penny!

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5.0 out of 5 stars All The Pieces Fit! April 12 2004

By Martin A Hogan TOP 100 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

This is the kind of film that will not get the attention it deserves. Black sheep 'April' just wants to do something nice - like cook Thanksgiving dinner for her 'none-too-eager' estranged family. The film is split between the family's road trip to the New York apartment and the tribulations of April desperately trying to cook a huge meal she has never attempted before. April's Mom (a fantastically complex Patricia Clarkson) is balancing all her emotions along with dealing with cancer. Dad (a thankfully subdued Oliver Pratt) tries to manage his wife, dippy son, prissy, peppy daughter and his cute, but Alzheimer suffering Mother (Alice Drummond; always good, but give this woman a character change!). The scenes are thankfully devoid of pratfalls and deliver real solid emotions and a few chuckles. Meanwhile April is meeting all of her apartment building owners for the first time, seeking an oven that will cook her turkey in time. This too, is full of small, precious moments that are subtle enough to ring true. It never gets sappy and each character delvers a believable performance. Even the ending is satisfying in a most unexpected way.

A commentary by director Peter Hedges gives a great deal of insight into film making from the heart and the featurette is adequate for one viewing. The only other feature is the trailer.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Putting back the pieces... July 11 2004

By Ryan L.

Format:DVD

Writer/director Peter Hedges' (What's Eating Gilbert Grape?) charming and tiny independent film Pieces of April is surprisingly and unquestionably one of the best pictures of the year. April is expertly filmed with a digital video camera and the scenes of the Burns family often reminded of a family road trip that you might see on Wonder Days. And the edgy April character is likely to go down as one of my favorite and most memorable in a film this year and in a long time.

April Burns (portrayed by the lovely Katie Holmes) lives in a claustrophobic apartment in a less-than-glamorous area of New York City with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). April, being 21 years old, and having left her highly dysfunctional family, is hosting Thanksgiving. Her parents, Joy (Patricia Clarkson) and Jim (Oliver Platt) are hesitant to attend because of bad memories with their rebellious daughter. Their other daughter, Beth (Alison Pill) is a controlling and critical menace who doesn't allow her mother to breathe. Joy has cancer and her family is becoming increasingly concerned about her and how much time she has left in her life. The son Timmy (John Gallagher, Jr.) takes pictures of everything the family does for Joy to remember their lives by. The determined mother waits patiently in the car as the rest of the family begins to wake up, Beth rebelling and Jim confused about how to react. April has Bobby leave so that she can focus on the challenging tasks at hand which she finds very difficult to complete. Her oven breaks and she is forced to wander the halls of her apartment building in search of a working stove for her heavy and lazily stuffed turkey. The family's dysfunctions begin to surface as April races to make the dinner-and she is unsure if it will amount to an avail.

The digital camera gives Pieces a home video quality and allows for a more intimate portrait of this family and their lives. Katie Holmes stars in her best role ever-and her most fulfilling performance. The entire cast is magnificent and veteran Patricia Clarkson will likely find a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her work done here. Ms. Clarkson embodies her character and lives and breathes it, giving the film its heart. She steals every scene she is in, and so does Antwone Fisher star Derek Luke. All the characters are so lovable-just like the film-and they will stay with you for long after you view the film.

The one staggering sidestep in Pieces of April can be forgiven because everything else is just so good. Sean Hayes is a serious miscast as a neighbor who takes April's turkey "hostage." Hayes is off the screen very quickly so it doesn't impact the film to a great degree. The screenplay is quirky and original with witty dialogue and some hilarious, low-key humor is scattered throughout the film. April is also poignant and deeply touching, with an ending that brings the film full circle, and an original approach to storytelling that takes a sad story of a sad family and shapes it into an enchanting and very powerful comedy-drama. It's a witty, often bittersweet and sad, film about life and the different ways of living it. One of the best 20 pictures of 2003 without a doubt and is better than any Hollywood explosive epic film out there.

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