Pieces of April

Here’s a film that will get you all misty eyed without being manipulative. Katie Holmes stars as April, taking on the responsibility of making Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged family, including her mother (Patricia Clarkson) who is dying from cancer. When she discovers that her oven is broken, April must call upon neighbors she doesn’t even know for kitchen appliance assistance, and this leads to some funny goings on. While it sounds like it has the potential for sappiness, the film is fresh and original, with Holmes and Clarkson both excellent. Oliver Platt is funny and heartbreaking as Clarkson’s husband. This film’s ending got me in the gut.