Pieces of April

"She's the one in every family."

2003 1h 21m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

83%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 278🍅83%Rotten Tomatoes●70Metacritic★7IMDB · 22,723

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.

“She's the one in every family.”

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Cast

Katie Holmes
April Burns
Derek Luke
Bobby
Patricia Clarkson
Joy Burns
Oliver Platt
Jim Burns
Alison Pill
Beth Burns
John Gallagher Jr.
Timmy Burns
Alice Drummond
Grandma Dottie
Lillias White
Evette

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Hedges
Writers: Peter Hedges
Languages: Mandarin, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

81 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Mandarin, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Hedges, shot by Tami Reiker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Stephin Merritt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mark Livolsi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Katie Holmes and Derek Luke and Patricia Clarkson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Hedges directs. Tami Reiker behind the camera. Stephin Merritt scores. Mark Livolsi cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Mandarin, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

181 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Released 23 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Mandarin, English.
5Directed by Peter Hedges, shot by Tami Reiker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Stephin Merritt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Mark Livolsi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Katie Holmes and Derek Luke and Patricia Clarkson carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "She's the one in every family.".
10IMDB entry: tt0311648 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 16 themes, including "new york city", "holiday", "thanksgiving", "grunge".