{image1}Enough happy bits, enough sad bits, enough touching moments. "Pieces of April," the directorial debut from screenwriter Peter Hedges -- who also wrote "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" -- is a well-balanced film and an enjoyable one, too.
Ne'er-do-well suburban refugee April Burns lives in Manhattan with her African-American boyfriend and it's Thanksgiving. So, she's invited her family into town for a family dinner in her run-down tenement apartment. Her mother Joy is dying of cancer and the entire family is trying to create some happy memories, especially with the outcast April, before it's too late.
As you might expect, everyone involved is dreading the day, except for Bobby, who seems to think it will be a great coming together of a shattered family.
Half of the film follows April (Katie Holmes) as she and Bobby (Derek Luke) attempt to prepare the apartment for the visit and as April tries to cook her first Thanksgiving Day feast. While Bobby is out on an errand, she discovers the oven is broken and spends much of her day running up and down the stairs trying to borrow an oven. In the meantime, she meets her neighbors, for better and for worse.
The other half follows Joy (Patricia Clarkson) and her husband Jim (Oliver Platt) and their other two kids -- Beth (Alison Pill) and the camera-addicted Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.) -- on the road truip to New York. Joy's vaguely senile mother (Alice Drummond) is along for the ride, too.
Loaded with witty lines and funny situations in both of the converging storylines, there are also powerful moments of fear, regret and anger, especially for April and Joy, whose lives have been in near-constant conflict and disappointment.
Hedges' screenplay is superb, with great dialogue, fine characterizations and a perfect balance between the two major facets of the film. But good material only works with a good cast and he's assembled one here.
Other than Platt, perhaps, who seems a little too cartoonish in his role as the ineffectual father, everyone antes up fine performances, but especially Clarkson and Holmes, both of whom ride the emotional rollercoaster with aplomb and appear ready to get back in line to ride again.
"Pieces of April" may not be a blockbuster, but that's fine. It's a strong, low-budget film that has more to offer than most of the competition.
"Pieces of April" opens Fri., Nov. 14 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
