Movie Review #27 (Not Really)
My son introduced me to Hulu a while back. There are actually a few good movies on there to watch, if you can put up with the commercials (which are oddly placed). Most of them are horror movies, B flicks, cheesy stuff, documentaries, and indie films. But a few good finds have come to my attention.
One that I watched the other night was Pieces of April. The set-up sounds like a Lifetime movie, but it's much better. April is the estranged daughter of an ostensibly middle class, happy family. She has a brother and sister near her in age. Her dad is patient and long-suffering. Her mother, we learn, is a difficult woman, who may be so difficult just because she always has been or maybe because she is dying of cancer--probably both. April is estranged because, well, she had a drug problem, she had boyfriend problems, she had .... problems. It's not entirely clear (and this is what makes the movie intriguing for me) whether she is the problem or the mom, or the dad.
But April is trying to do better. She has an apartment in New York (not the best address though) and an African American boyfriend who seems like a decent guy. And she wants to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family because it might be her mother's last Thanksgiving. So the family leaves their home three hours away from New York to join April for dinner. And the drama ensues.
I never thought much about Katie Holmes as an actor, but she does a wonderful job. She meets her menu of neighbors in the building as she tries to complete a menu for the dinner. Her stove breaks down, meaning she has to find a replacement, a task that involves a lot of running up and down stairs and pleading. Meanwhile her boyfriend is going on some kind of errand--we fear it's a drug score--and her parents are driving. Her mother's cruelty--or is it just bitterness--toward everyone, not just April, becomes very real (Patricia Clarkson is one of those actresses who does the job of acting, not being a star, and I like to watch her).
I loved this (80-minute) movie. Very human and real, but with a satisfying ending. I am already sick of the Christmas season and all the nonsensical "magic of Christmas" Hallmark Channel blah-blah. And it's four weeks away! I would nominate Pieces of April for a new holiday classic (although be warned, there are some raw moments in it).
One that I watched the other night was Pieces of April. The set-up sounds like a Lifetime movie, but it's much better. April is the estranged daughter of an ostensibly middle class, happy family. She has a brother and sister near her in age. Her dad is patient and long-suffering. Her mother, we learn, is a difficult woman, who may be so difficult just because she always has been or maybe because she is dying of cancer--probably both. April is estranged because, well, she had a drug problem, she had boyfriend problems, she had .... problems. It's not entirely clear (and this is what makes the movie intriguing for me) whether she is the problem or the mom, or the dad.
But April is trying to do better. She has an apartment in New York (not the best address though) and an African American boyfriend who seems like a decent guy. And she wants to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family because it might be her mother's last Thanksgiving. So the family leaves their home three hours away from New York to join April for dinner. And the drama ensues.
I never thought much about Katie Holmes as an actor, but she does a wonderful job. She meets her menu of neighbors in the building as she tries to complete a menu for the dinner. Her stove breaks down, meaning she has to find a replacement, a task that involves a lot of running up and down stairs and pleading. Meanwhile her boyfriend is going on some kind of errand--we fear it's a drug score--and her parents are driving. Her mother's cruelty--or is it just bitterness--toward everyone, not just April, becomes very real (Patricia Clarkson is one of those actresses who does the job of acting, not being a star, and I like to watch her).
I loved this (80-minute) movie. Very human and real, but with a satisfying ending. I am already sick of the Christmas season and all the nonsensical "magic of Christmas" Hallmark Channel blah-blah. And it's four weeks away! I would nominate Pieces of April for a new holiday classic (although be warned, there are some raw moments in it).
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