the groundhog day project

I’m glad that the likes of Roger Ebert agrees with me about Bobby’s plotline in Pieces of April ; he writes: “...here Hedges, the writer-director, half-heartedly tries to do something that doesn’t work and is a little offensive.” Yep. Totally. On the other hand, I must disagree withe Nick Rogers ‘ when he terms the titular April a “Pierced pixie-girl.” Pixie -girls, in cinematic terms are not simply a little eccentric—and April is really only visibly eccentric while she’s a little boring in personality—but cheerful and energetic as well... well, maybe there’s room for something other than the manic pixie , but I do not think April is quite interesting enough to be it. Her plight may be interesting, but she really isn’t. Similarly, while I can appreciate the quiet subtlety of this film, I must disagree with Rogers when he says, “Thankfully, Hedges stages no knockdown, drag-out dinner-table histrionics.” A little more histrionics may have put more life into this film. I mean, yeah, a...

Not long into Pieces of April , a few characters go looking for Joy. To be fair, Joy is a person, a woman who is dying, but still... it’s an on-the-nose metaphor. If you haven’t seen it, and you probably haven’t, picture an independent film circa 2003, a lot of handheld camera and natural lighting. Not a great deal of plot development either. In fact, the titular character’s storyline takes place pretty much in one general location—her apartment building (first her apartment, then neighbors’). ... So, first night with this movie, which I only ever saw once, 11 years ago when it was in theaters. I let it play without writing much. I remember liking it when it came out, and critics liked it. Patricia Clarkson, playing the dying mother in the film, got a lot of award nominations. My daughter Saer wasn’t that impressed. She liked it well enough but wanted more. I agree. The film is good here and there. Even the horrible behavior of April’s family on their roadtrip to her place plays lik...