Thanks much to Manders for this :)VANITY FAIR
September 2003 issue with Prince William on the cover.
FANFAIR-Hot Reels
Page 178
Homecoming Scene
Peter Hedges's Sundance Star, "Pieces of April"
"Pieces of April" won acclaim this year at Sundance and, amazingly, has continued to generate buzz (unlike some prize Sundance blooms that subsequently fade, leaving behind only a faint stink of 'what were they thinking?') But still, it took cranky old me a while to get what's great about it. One draw is an interesting, eclectic cast, led by Katie Holmes (whose career has almost advanced to the point where critics no longer have to mention that she was Joey on "Dawson's Creek"), Patricia Clarkson (brilliant most recently as the high-handed neighbor in "Far From Heaven"), Derek Luke (who played the title role in "Antoine Fisher"--oops, didn't see it), Sean Hayes (amusing in small doses as Jack on "Will & Grace"), and Oliver Platt (the big-droopy looking guy in about a million movies). The first-time director, Peter Hedges, previously wrote "What's Eating Gilbert Grape (based on his own novel) and co-wrote "About A Boy"--to my taste, less of a draw. This one, which means to be a comedy with sharp elbows, gets off to an uneven start. Holmes plays a punky Lower East Sider named April (cute title alert), who is whipping up a Thanksgiving dinner for her suburban middle-class family. There are two sources of tension: Clarkson, who plays the estranged mother, is dying of cancer--Will this be the Last Thanksgiving?-and black-sheep April, trying for once to make nice, finds that her oven doesn't work. The movie isn't always as funny and dark as it wants to be--at times it's like "The King of Queens" with vomiting and mastectomy scars--and Clarkson's character is overwritten; she has to tame the part like a rodeo cowboy throwing down a steer. But she does, the rest of the cast generates a ton of goodwill, and the film finally earns a few tears through sheer hard work and accrued charisma. (Rating: 3 stars)
~Bruce Handy
