Pieces of April

Locations
Call Number: DVD Holiday Pieces
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD Holiday Pieces	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Originally released as a motion picture in 2003.
Special features: commentary by writer/director Peter Hedges; behind-the-scenes featurette; theatrical trailer.
Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Alice Drummond, Lillias White, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Oliver Platt.
Family outcast April lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby. In order to spend some time with her dying mother, April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April's lifestyle. Her dad tries to think positively, while sister Beth flaunts her good-girl status and brother Timmy captures it all on film.
DVD, Region 1, widescreen (1.85:1) and full screen presentations, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Hidden Gem submitted by Meginator on August 29, 2020, 1:36pm This is a closely observed slice-of-life story that relies on subtlety, feeling more like an actual glimpse into the characters’ everyday lives than like a deliberately constructed film. This works largely to its benefit and prevents it from becoming preachy in its core story of a young woman who invites her estranged family over for Thanksgiving dinner, though the resolution comes far too easily and doesn’t flow naturally from the preceding scenes. Katie Holmes carries the film with an amazing performance that relies on subtlety and nuance, with excellent performances from the supporting cast as well. Even if everything comes together far too neatly at the end, the film offers a slightly different take on Thanksgiving that feels fundamentally true to life.