Pieces of April is a sweet low budget affair with a candy coating and a warm liquid centre. Required viewing for all Taipei Idiots the Movie participants.
I found it to be severely formulaic. One cliche after another.
For example?
SPOILERS
Oh, let’s see, within the first five minutes . . . April tries to light her oven, finds out it’s broken, can’t reach anyone, goes to beg for help and is met by a (stereotype alert) fat black woman who thinks that white people always have it made. Cut to next scene (cliche alert) black woman sobbing on couch as April explains her life’s problems.
The whole movie is like that. The writer/director is not subtle in any way, shape, or form. He/she/it is taking a large heavy brick and slamming you with it in the side of the head, screaming “THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE! THIS IS A HEARTWARMING FEEL-GOOD MOVIE!” in your ear until you cry at the ending and the credits roll.
haha, my oven’s broken, too…no way i’m walking around my building asking for help. its a good depiction of lower east side living–dirty streets, cramped apartments, broken appliances…new yoawk, new yoawk.
has GARDEN STATE opened in Taiwan? now there’s a movie that’s trying too hard. cinematography is brilliant, acting subpar, writing abhorent. ick.
If anyone is thinking of seeing Pieces of April please do not be put off by Maoposquids remarks. This movie is definitely “not” filled with cliches. Unless real life is a cliche because that is what this movie feels like. Real life at it’s absurd and somehow wonderful best. We get to see not only family members but members of language groups break down the barriers that seperate them. Watch it and tell me if they portray Chinese people in the stereotypical hollywood fashion. Watch and tell me if it doesn’t make you both laugh and cry. I watched it twice last night and cried with a smile on my face both times. I was admittedly a little drunk though so…
I agree with Squid. What a load of toss. Fell asleep halfway through.
That’s because you have no soul. Or perhaps stamina. It does require a bit of stamina to watch, but the pay off is there definitely. I told my wife what you guys said and she called you a pair of maroons.
Mawkish pap. I agree with Alleycat; the only reason I stayed awake was because my (ex-)GF was playing footsie with me.
I have no Jamaican blood in me whatsoever. Your wife clearly doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
Mawkish pap? Do you guys just make this stuff up or is there a special school you go to?
Is this that movie with Katie Holmes in it? Mmmmm, Katie Holmes…
Not even as good as mawkish pap. What a waste of celluloid. Katie Holmes though. 
Jamie Russell of the BBC said it best:
Bob, here’s something you might want (need) to see:
or this one
Bob, you’re an English teacher, aren’t you? You’re supposed to have a vocabulary. mawkish
I am a mere enginerd. I supposed 2 tawk like dis.
O.K. so what about pap? Is that pap as in pap smear?
I have been wanting to see “Ordinary Lives” for awhile now.
[quote]The noun “pap” has 3 senses in WordNet.
- pap, pablum – (worthless or oversimplified ideas)
- soft diet, pap, spoon food – (a diet that does not require chewing; advised for those with intestinal disorders)
- nipple, mammilla, mamilla, pap, teat, tit – (the small projection of a mammary gland)[/quote]
1 and 2 apply in this sense. Not got a dictionary or access to Google or something bob?
EDIT: Forumosa fart caused a double post. Oops.
I’ll go with nipple, tit, teat, mamallia.