Pieces of April PG-13, 81 m Starring: Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke Written and directed by Peter Hedges Release date: Oct. 24 3 / 4 stars.
Katie Holmes fully establishes her indie street creed as the title character in "Pieces of April," a Thanksgiving movie that will leave you with a warm, tryptophan-like feeling by the end, but avoids getting too sticky.
Shot on digital video, the shaky, grainy camera work complements April's poor-chic digs, where she lives with her boyfriend Bobby (the adorable Derek Luke of "Antwone Fisher" fame). The film, a Sundance hit, chronicles April's Thanksgiving as she frantically tries to cook dinner for her judgmental family, who may or may not actually show up. Screen time is split between April's health code-violating preparations and her relatives' journey to Manhattan.
April has several strikes against her: She rocks a goth-punk look, complete with piercing, tattoos and dyed hair; she's the black sheep of the family who ran away to the big city; and she's something of a brat who whines, cries, and has to be dragged from bed by Bobby to get the turkey ready.
When her oven - or as April wonders, is it a stove? - breaks, April must seek out the help of her typically oddball New York neighbors. Meanwhile, a deeper drama unfolds in her family. Her mother, Joy, (Patricia Clarkson) is a witchy woman dying from breast cancer, mocks her children's concern but musters plenty of dignity in her illness.
April's sister Beth (Alison Pill) is an insufferable brown-noser, and her brother Timmy (John Gallagher, Jr.) hides behind his camera lens so he doesn't have to deal with reality. Jim (Oliver Platt) is the doting father and concerned husband who's just trying to hold it all together while his wife smokes pot and his kids snap at each other in the backseat. Of course, there's a senile grandmother (Alice Drummond) along for the ride, who slips out of her Alzheimer's fog to make one or two insightful remarks before the close of the film.
Will April's turkey survive? Can she learn how to make real cranberry sauce? These questions are answered by the end, and it's fun to watch April interact, albeit shrilly, with her wacky neighbors, particularly Wayne with the new stove (a bizarre Sean Hayes). However, the real story lies in the tentative, anticipated reunion with her folks, and it's a holiday movie so it has to end sweetly. Don't worry, though - it won't give you with a toothache. And running at a fast, funny 81 minutes, Pieces of April won't leave you with that post-turkey sleepiness, either.
