Pieces of April - MGM screening room, NYC (9/19/03) Director , producer and "Pieces of April" cast on set One of the tasks of being a webmaster at this site is compiling all the news and information on Katie's movies, projects, etc. So as I went to see Pieces of April last night, I had already pretty much read all the reviews and articles on this movie that are available on the web. In retrospect, I think knowing so much about the movie, and having such high expectations based on those reviews may have negatively affected my feelings on the film. :( First, a synopsis of the movie. It opens on Thanksgiving morning as April Burns (Katie) is asleep in her seedy NYC apartment. Her boyfriend , Bobby (Derek Luke),is trying to get April out of bed so she can cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family, who are dreading this day even more than April. But April's mom, Joy (Patricia Clarkson), is dying from cancer, so the family agrees to drive to NYC to share what may be the family's final meal together. Besides Joy, the family car contains perfect daughter Beth, son Timmy (who is photographing the day's events), senile Grandma Dottie, and April's Dad, Jim (Oliver Platt), who is bravely trying to hold everything together. While the Burns' family car is heading towards NYC, April's attempt to cook her first Thanksgiving dinner is a disaster. After boyfriend Bobby leaves to run some mysterious errand, April discovers that her oven doesn't work. The movie then mostly switches back and forth between April running around her apartment building trying to find a working oven, and the Burns family heading towards Manhattan. We see the family try to come up with happy April memories, only to find there are none. Joy (a name that doesn't fit lol) is a handful. Her family is trying to make the day memorable for her, but she'll have none of it. I won't give away the ending when the Burns family reaches NYC. I'll say they did a pretty nice job of resolving things..perhaps a lil too nicely though. The acting, as I mentioned, is superb. Katie and her castmates should be proud of their performances. Will there be any nominations for this movie?..I doubt it. But they still did a fine job. Throughout the movie, there were two characters that I found lacking in dimensions and interest. One was the character of Bobby (Derek Luke). I understand the need for this character - that he was the family that April had found in NYC - and director Peter Hedges mentioned that he was the "love we may find". But as most of the movie switched back and forth between April and the Burns' family car, we also got to see Bobby run his "errand". There didn't seem to be much need for these scenes, other than to show us Bobby was doing something and thereby explaining why he couldn't be in the apartment helping April. Grandma Dottie also didn't hold my interest. I was expecting lots of funny remarks (as per the reviews) from her as she sat in the back of the Burns' family car; I'm still waiting for them... Considering the movie was filmed on digital video (in 16 days), the "look" of the movie is pretty good. It helps that they are trying to have us eavesdrop in on the characters, so the format lends itself to the film makers vision. Some people (*cough* David Poland *cough*) won't like the look, but you can't please everyone. :) For anybody reading this review wondering if Katie is in various states of undress in the movie: sorry guys (and gals) - there really aren't any "DVD-pause" moments. As I sat in the theater watching this unfold, I smiled a lot (others around me were laughing heartily). But I found myself waiting for scenes that I knew were about to happen, rather than simply watching the movie "normally". I feel this hurt my enjoyment of the movie. It's almost like I had seen it already. Despite this, I still think all Katie fans should see this movie. This would be an especially sweet film for mothers and daughters to view together. I hope the movie finds an audience, but I don't know. It will be interesting to see how they try to market it. Will they try to make it a mother-daughter bonding movie or a feel-good holiday flick? :look: Chaz's final grade: 3 stars (out of 4) -------------------------------------- Notes on Writer/Director Peter Hedges comments at screening Peter Hedges introduced the movie, and afterwards there was a Q&A session. Here are some of his comments: -He seemed very impressed with Katie. He mentioned that besides being beautiful and nice, she is very funny. His term for her being grounded is that "She's flown coach." -Katie wasn't the first choice for April. Or the second. He had first met with someone who he said "was the hottest young actress" - but not anymore. She wasn't cast. He then flew to England to meet with another gal who was also "the hottest young actress" (but not anymore as well) - and after making him wait in London for two extra days, she blew him off and never met with him. -The movie had several incarnations. It was once a 7 million dollar project, and they were almost off to film in Toronto when that deal fell through. Katie and Patricia Clarkson were attached to the project for the longest time.

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