Pieces of April

Plot

April Burns, the eldest daughter in a highly dysfunctional family, lives in a small tenement apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her boyfriend Bobby. Although estranged from her family, she opts to invite them for Thanksgiving dinner, probably the last for her mother Joy, who has breast cancer.

The film focuses on three journeys: the family's arduous trek from suburbia to New York City, punctuated by stops for Krispy Kreme doughnuts, bagels, Joy's frequent need for a restroom or a joint to ease her pain, a burial service for an animal they hit, and various arguments and recriminations, as well as discussions of their disappointment in April; Bobby's efforts to find a suit so he can make a good impression on his girlfriend's relatives; and April's preparations for the meal, a near disaster when she discovers her oven is broken. With the help of various neighbors, she manages to assemble dinner, while learning to appreciate the importance of family and making some new friends in the process.

Cast

Production

In his commentary on the film's DVD release, Hedges says the inspiration for his screenplay was twofold — his mother's battle with and death from cancer and a true story about a group of friends who had "borrowed" an apartment to prepare a communal Thanksgiving dinner. However, the oven in the apartment did not work so they had to go door to door in the building, trying to find an oven in which to cook their turkey.

Shot in just 16 days on a budget of $100,000. Costs were kept this low by the film company InDigEnt cutting a deal with the unions. This meant that Peter Hedges was paid $10 to direct the film, and another $10 to write it. All the actors worked for $248 a day.

Critical response

The film-review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 84% based on reviews from 146 critics, with an average rating of 7.1/10.

Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times, called the film an "intelligent and touching farce" and added, "Mr. Hedges dances from one vignette to another with a mouthwatering finesse." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said "it contains much good humor" and "has a lot of joy and quirkiness; it's well-intentioned in its screwy way, with flashes of human insight, and actors who can take a moment and make it glow." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine, described it as "a playful comedy laced with heartbreak," adding, "It's Holmes who holds Pieces together . . . [she] nails every laugh without missing the dramatic nuances. She makes April and her movie well worth knowing." Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film " both heartfelt and tough-minded . . . [it] avoids sentimentality at every turn and truly earns both its laughs and its tears."

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, rated the film C, calling it a "glib comedy" and adding, "Hedges shoves his characters into sitcom slots and seals them there."

Box office

The film earned a total of approximately $3.2 million worldwide.

Awards and nominations