Pieces of April
Yes, it's a little late to be talking about this, but this movie is about Thanksgiving dinner. Katie Holmes is April, a rebellious girl living in the Big Apple. With ties to her family severed, she thought the holiday of thankfulness would be a good time to see her family and let them see the new life she leads. The matriarch of the family, Joy (Patricia Clarkson), is suffering from breast cancer while her husband (Oliver Platt) and other children seem to suffer along with her. All of them are suspicious of April's invitation and try to find reasons not to go, but if Joy, as sick as she is, can wake up early and sit in the car and wait, by golly they're gonna go. Thanksgiving arrives and with a little jump-start from her boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke), April gets started on dinner. But a broken oven and last minute changes to the menu threaten a Thanksgiving where quite possibly, no one will show up at all.

This is a very top-notch movie. It's, well, a joy to watch with lots of funny moments as April prepares the dinner and her family try to get out of it, or at the very least, make up lines to describe how good the food will be. You can tell April is in the act of growing up further with her experiences with neighbors from different walks of life, but it's hard to tell if April's life was truly affected by this day. She smiles for the camera, but what's to stop her from not talking to her mom for a long period of time again? At 75 minutes, the film is awfully short and could have focused more on explaining what caused April so estranged from her family. Instead, we get some storyline involving Bobby getting new clothes. Okay, he gets beat up but his minutes on-screen seem to only serve the purpose of scaring the family once they arrive. By the end, the film is ultimately satisfying with a family that really needed something to be thankful for get it on the right day. 3 stars