Pieces of April (2003)
Novelist and screenwriter Peter Hedges makes his directorial debut with the comedy drama Pieces of April. Family outcast April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). In order to spend some time with her dying mother, Joy (Patricia Clarkson), April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. She discovers that her oven is broken the morning of the big day, so she goes around her tenement building trying to find a sympathetic neighbor with a working oven. Though she doesn't know them, neighbors Eugene (Isiah Whitlock) and Evette (Lillias White) offer the use of their oven, but only for an hour. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April's lifestyle. Dad Jim (Oliver Platt) tries to think positively, while daughter Beth (Alison Pill) flaunts her good-girl status and son Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.) captures it all on film. Shot with digital video, Pieces of April is a project of the Independent Film Channel's InDigEnt production company. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, (more)
- Director(s):
- Peter Hedges
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG13
- Format(s):
- DVD
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Synopsis of Pieces of April
Novelist and screenwriter Peter Hedges makes his directorial debut with the comedy drama Pieces of April. Family outcast April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). In order to spend some time with her dying mother, Joy (Patricia Clarkson), April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. She discovers that her oven is broken the morning of the big day, so she goes around her tenement building trying to find a sympathetic neighbor with a working oven. Though she doesn't know them, neighbors Eugene (Isiah Whitlock) and Evette (Lillias White) offer the use of their oven, but only for an hour. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April's lifestyle. Dad Jim (Oliver Platt) tries to think positively, while daughter Beth (Alison Pill) flaunts her good-girl status and son Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.) captures it all on film. Shot with digital video, Pieces of April is a project of the Independent Film Channel's InDigEnt production company. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 80 mins
Complete Cast of Pieces of April
- Katie Holmes - April Burns
- Oliver Platt - Jim Burns
- Alison Pill - Beth Burns
- Alice Drummond - Grandma Dottie
- Sisqo - Latrell
- Isiah Whitlock, Jr. - Eugene
- Patricia Clarkson - Joy Burns
- Derek Luke - Bobby
- John Gallagher, Jr. - Timmy Burns
- Sean Hayes - Wayne
- Lillias White - Evette
- Director(s):
- Peter Hedges
- Writer(s):
- Peter Hedges
- Producer(s):
- Alexis Alexanian, Gary Winick, Holly Becker
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- PG13(Sexual Situations, Drug Content, Adult Language, Brief Nudity)
- 2003 - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Supporting Actress
- 2003 - Chicago Film Critics Association - Best Supporting Actress
- 2003 - Chicago International Film Festival - Audience Award
- 2003 - National Board of Review - Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking
- 2003 - National Board of Review - Best Supporting Actress
- 2003 - San Francisco Film Critics Circle - Best Supporting Actress
- 2003 - Sundance Film Festival - Special Jury Prize
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