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LOL..there are so many of these lil articles, I'm not sure anymore whether I've posted them or not. Anyway, here is a mini-review/synopsis of "PoA": "Pieces Of April" One of the three "hot" films at the festival, Peter Hedges' comedy-drama won neither the disdain garnered by "Masked and Anonymous" nor the prizes won by "The Station Agent." Yet its sweet-and-sour story of a Thanksgiving from hell won it a distribution deal, and its assured direction and strong cast -- including Katie Holmes and Sean Hayes -- makes it the Sundance film most likely to click with mainstream audiences. Link: Sundance Film Festival pushes the envelope This is from the messageboarrd at Yahoo Movies! posted by voice_of_reason: I saw Pieces of April at the Sundance Film Festival. It was a really wonderful film.. one of the most popular at the festival. The scriptwriting is excellent as well as the performances by Oliver Platt, Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson and Derek Luke. After the screening the director/writer Peter Hedges took questions from the audience along with the cast. Hedges explained that he wrote the screenplay in honor of his mother who had died shortly before he began writing it. Katie Holmes talked about how she liked the role because it was beautifully written and so different from her other roles. There are no car chases, gun fights or suspenseful twists in this movie. It is simply a day in the life of a family trying to heal. A beautiful, touching film. Hopefully, you heard what Richard Roeper thought of "PoA" from the video I added from Ebert and Roeper. Here is what he said in one of his Sundance columns: "Pieces of April" is a darkly funny and ultimately heart-gripping tale of a screwed-up family trying to spend one last Thanksgiving together, as the mother (Patricia Clarkson) has terminal cancer. When writer/director Peter Hedges is asked if the story comes from personal experience, he gets as far as, "My mother called," before he starts choking up. Turns out Hedges' mother had called him three years ago to tell him she had cancer, and she was dying. At her funeral, Hedges got up to speak, but he felt that his words weren't sufficient. "I made this movie to do justice to her memory," says Hedges, and several audience members shout, "You did it!" and everyone stands and applauds, and for once the expression "There wasn't a dry eye in the house" can be taken literally. Link: Here's what's off-screen, on scene at Sundance He also mentioned in his TV review: Okay, the best work I saw at Sundance was "Pieces of April," a darkly funny but life-affirming Thanksgiving movie from writer/director Peter Hedges. Patricia Clarkson, who was in four films showing at the festival, is magnificent as one of the least angelic terminal cancer patients in cinema history. Katie Holmes, who continues to build an impressive film career, stars as clarkson's troubled daughter, who's determined to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her semi-estranged family. Link to closed-caption transcript Thanks to Lee for this link from ESPN.com |
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