A modestly scaled film on every level (it's only 81 minutes long), but Hedges and company manage to ring true on almost all the material's sweet and sour notes.
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10/22/03
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Pieces of April (2003)
85
%
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Reviews Counted:143
Fresh:121
Rotten:22
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: A delightful, heartfelt comedy.
Theatrical Release:Oct 17, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $2,313,443
Synopsis: Katie Holmes is outstanding as the title character in Peter Hedges's PIECES OF APRIL. Holmes stars as April Burns, the black sheep of her family who has left suburbia for a Lower East Side... [More]
Starring: Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes
Director: Peter Hedges
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Reviews for Pieces of April
Smart, witty and touching in its examination of the way family ties can get stretched to their limits without severing the connection that makes people a family.
10/22/03
Hedges peppers it with enough wonderful moments that you can't help warming up to it.
10/22/03
Top CriticA Murphy's-Law Thanksgiving comedy in which both the meal and the movie have a hard time coming together.
10/22/03
The movie is brimming with life. The story is moving to the point where it's hard not to shed a tear.
10/22/03
Pieces Of April is no good and no amount of Sundance catfights for its distribution rights will convince me otherwise
10/21/03
A small independent with a big heart.
10/21/03
[A] gentle comedy.
10/17/03
Economically paced and emotionally satisfying, Pieces of April is a good example of what small independent movies can do.
10/17/03
Top CriticHedges has crafted a warmhearted holiday film that stands as a small classic in its bittersweet illustration of the unbreakable bond of family.
10/17/03
Moments that are real and touching and meaningful.
10/17/03
Quite a piece of work.
10/17/03
A movie that's a little too determined to find sweet forgiveness in sour attitudes.
10/17/03
A delightful, funny surprise.
10/17/03
Top CriticThe moment I realized the movie was working for me was when I realized that I was rooting for it to work, just as I was rooting for young April… a feel-good parable about taking steps in the right direction.
10/17/03
We’re left feeling those quirky, confused, often unbearably loaded feelings we often get around our families, and the power of the most important one: unconditional love.
10/16/03
Pieces of April looks like it is charming most of those who see it, but I was irritated by its artifice.
10/16/03
Great performances of well observed characters lift the movie above its one-note ending
10/16/03
This is a gem of a film and goes to show that if you have a good story, you don't have to have millions of dollars to tell it.
10/16/03
[An] intelligent and touching farce.
10/16/03
Top CriticLatest News for Pieces of April
October 26, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Fire" Blazes; "Scissors" Isn't Sharp Enough; "Saw III" Not Screened: Guess The Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got the return of Jigsaw ("Saw III," starring Tobin Bell), a tale of rebellion in apartheid-era South Africa ("Catch a Fire,"... More...
November 24, 2005:
A Day to Give Thanks (for Good Thanksgiving Movies!)
The Newsday column gets to take a few days off during the big holidays, but I couldn't let today go by without offering our friends a handful of Turkey-day treats. If you're... More...
September 15, 2005:
That Crazy Carell Lands Yet Another New Gig
According to Variety, the suddenly VERY busy "40 Year-Old Virgin" Steve Carell has signed with Disney to star in Peter Hedges' comedy "Dan in Real Life,"... More...
January 13, 2005:
"Everything Changes" for Peter Hedges
More...
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