Pieces of April

I’m not a huge Katie Holmes fan or more aptly, I’m not a Katie Holmes fan. But there is one movie that piqued my interest when I was channel surfing one night which stars Katie.


From the cinematography (or maybe just a hunch), I knew Pieces of April is an independent film. It stars Holmes (April), Patricia Clarkson (Joy, mom), and Oliver Platt (Jim, dad). Peter Hedges who wrote the screenplay of favorites like About a Boy, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and A Map of the World also wrote and directed the movie. It's his directorial début.


April is an outcast in the family having been involved in drugs and has been wanting attention from her parents. You know, the usual rebel eldest child. She’s the exact opposite of her younger sister who plays the good daughter and she is not as talented as her brother.


April tries hard to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner to reach out to her ailing mother who is very hesitant to go to New York. Jim is the good dad who wants to give his eldest daughter a chance and persuades the whole family to just go along.


April learns a thing or two when she found out that her oven is broken. She asks help from her neighbors and found new friends with Eugene and Evette. April learns people can get along even with language barrier and other cultural differences.


The family’s journey from Pennsylvania is as colorful. Joy makes a lot of excuses just to delay the trip. They make a lot of stops and even held a burial service for a ran-over animal.


Finally, the family reaches the suburban Manhattan. Surprised at the rough neighborhood and learning that April’s boyfriend is black; the whole family went away leaving her devastated and disappointed.


April shared her Thanksgiving meal to her neighbors instead. But after a while, her family returned and that’s how they picked up the broken pieces of the past.


I like the simplicity and familiarity of the movie. I think that’s the common denominator among indie films. There is always that “I can totally relate” or “I knew it happened to someone I know” feeling.


Every scene resonates reality but without that heavy and sorry feeling.


Katie is, yes, still Katie. But I love the way she handled the character. A known fashion icon, Katie dressed down in the movie with all that rock chic emo get-up. Patricia’s and Oliver’s performances are “awesomeness” to the highest level. For a while I thought they were my parents.


It’s that one beautiful indie movie that doesn’t need to show skin or is not about sex. It makes me believe that indie films don’t need an “R” rating to be awesome. Or it doesn’t have to be tragic.