Critic Reviews
70
Metascore
Generally Favorable
positive
28(78%)
mixed
7(19%)
negative
1(3%)
Showing 36 Critic Reviews
All Reviews
All Reviews
Metascore
Metascore
100
Both heartfelt and tough-minded.
90
A film to savor and to be thankful for.
90
A Thanksgiving family reunion comedy that sparkles with acerbic wit, original characters and genuine heart.
90
Hedges's intelligent and touching farce, Pieces of April, makes an important contribution to a small and insignificant subgenre: Thanksgiving Day failure. It does so by raising the bar.
90
It turns out to be an especially warm comedy with a hidden heart. It's a film whose humor has feeling behind it because writer-director Peter Hedges doesn't let his comedy overpower an understanding of how emotionally weighted family situations are always going to be.
90
Pieces of April would deserve your attention and respect even if all these colorful threads didn't come together into a luminous whole. But they do, beautifully and unaffectedly, because what's been on Mr. Hedges's mind is not just a comedy of alienation but a drama of acceptance and reconciliation.
90
This film explores what low-budget films do best: the quirkiness of character, and slightly off-kilter comedy.
88
The restraint and wit Hedges and his cast display in putting together Pieces of April pay off in the film's brightly organized, deeply satisfying conclusion.
80
As the debate between digital video and film rages on, Pieces of April proves a point that many people overlook in the DV/film debate. If you have a great story, a great script and a great cast, DV will work as well as film onscreen.
80
Hedges keeps everything in balance: The sadness and frivolity all seem to be part of the same emotional continuum. He’s made a lingeringly poignant little movie.
