Pieces of April is an enjoyable comedy about a family that journeys from their comfortable suburban home to the depths of New York City to celebrate Thanksgiving with their wayward daughter April (Katie Holmes), a screwup who thinks she has her life together enough to host her family. The film combines a road movie, in which the family makes their arduous way to the big city convinced that the day will end in disaster, and a quest by April to find a working oven in which to cook her turkey. There's an insulting subplot in which April's boyfriend Bobby (Derek Luke) leaves for a mysterious meeting and is harassed by word that "Tyrone is looking for you." The film basically uses this holiday gathering as a metaphor for America, a land where people from disparate backgrounds live in relative harmony; that it uses such a problematic holiday as Thanksgiving, which is probably not celebrated by many Native Americans, as a metaphor is a clue to some of its problems.

The mother, Joy (a wonderful Patricia Clarkson), is going through chemotherapy to fight a losing battle against breast cancer; this might be the last time the family can get together, although she would rather stay home because she's not sure she can stand a disastrous holiday. The father, Jim (Oliver Platt), is solid and loving and desperately afraid of losing his wife. The youngest daughter, Beth (played by an actress with the appropriate name Alison Pill), doesn't want to go because she's sure April will screw things up as usual, and she constantly harasses everyone to turn the ship around and go home. Their son Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.) is present because I guess your all-American family needs a son, and they stop to pick up senile Grandma Dottie (Alice Drummond) because it's nice to have a senile character along on a road trip to deliver punch lines.

Meanwhile, April discovers that her oven doesn't work, and she makes her way slowly up the tenement stairs, begging for oven space. She interacts nicely with Evette and Eugene (Lillias White and Isaiah Whitlock Jr.), her upstairs neighbors who teach her something about cooking while sharing stories of family hell. She gets help from an Asian family upstairs who don't understand her words but understand her need (see, building bridges). And she has a run-in with Wayne (Sean Hayes), another problematic character, a sort of mincing pervert who has a brand new oven.

As usual, I had a problem with the fact that it was shot on digital. I think digital is a great idea, democratizing the filmmaking process and all that, but it makes people lazy. Filmmakers don't have to use extra lighting, so they don't, which is a mistake in many cases. Ambient light is nice, but it makes the movie grainy and dark in some scenes; in other cases, it is blinding. This is used to nice effect in one scene where the family car emerges from a tunnel into the city, but then it continues through several shots for no apparent reason other than the filmmakers didn't feel adjusting for the light difference between outside and inside. Also, filmmakers can hold the camera if they want to, which is nice sometimes, but they end up doing it all the time, which is another mistake. There are times in this film where it works wonderfully, like when it's used to convey the unsteadiness of Patricia Clarkson's character. However, why, when you're shooting a still shot of the exterior of a building, would you want the camera to waver? Why would you want the camera to waver in every scene?

Katie Holmes is infectiously likeable as the lead character. It is quickly becoming apparent that Patricia Clarkson is one of the best actresses working: in this film, her great supporting performances in Far From Heaven, The Green Mile, High Art, etc. Derek Luke makes the best of a bad part. I had a major problem with the subplot about Bobby's mysterious meeting. Why did Peter Hedges need to include this at all? The subplot makes it look like Bobby's engaged in a drug deal, and then the payoff is that it calls attention to the fact that the audience's racism (I guess) made them assume that. Hence, we think deep thoughts about our deeply held assumptions; our white liberal guilt kicks in. Hold on, though: It's Hedges who wrote and directed it so it looks this way. It insults the audience to lead us into thinking a certain way and then slap our wrists for following his lead.

The resolution of the story is a little problematic too, especially related to Bobby. The way he's introduced to April's parents is really flawed: I realize it goes along with Hedge's need to play off white fears of young black men, but if you stop to think about it from their perspective, it doesn't work. The family is supposed to learn that Bobby is actually a nice guy who loves their daughter, but what about the fact that their daughter and her nice boyfriend live in a neighborhood where nice guys like Bobby get beat bloody by drug dealers? What about the fact that their daughter's ex-boyfriend is a drug dealer at all? Is this supposed to assuage their fears about where their daughter chooses to live?

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Pieces of April. It was a reasonably fun and poignant family story, with well-spaced comedic bits, some well-drawn characters, and an ending that almost successfully wrapped everything up in a neat holiday bow. The music, by renaissance man Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, is really good. The film doesn't overstay its welcome; in fact, it seems to end rather abruptly, like the filmmakers ran out of money. I sound like I'm complaining too much, so keep in mind that this is a positive review.