April is kind of a screw up in life and she is trying to put together a thanksgiving dinner in her dreadfully sad little apartment for her family she has not seen for quite some time. Her mother has cancer and is not doing well and is played nicely by Patricia Clarkson who got an Oscar nomination for supporting actress for the part. You get the idea pretty quick that April has never had much of a relationship with her mother. Her entire family along with perky sister and awkward brother pile into the family car and take a long road trip for Thanksgiving at April's apartment. Families in quirky indie films are always piling into cars and taking road trips. This is right out of the "How to make a quirky indie film" instructional book.
April is played by Katie Holmes and she does a nice job here. Watching Holmes play this screw up of a girl trying her best to roast a turkey is a fine premise. As the family makes their way on the road to come to dinner, April's oven stops working and most of the story is then watching April go from neighbor to neighbor begging to use their oven. I like that idea, and while Holmes character does feel real most of the time, are we really supposed to believe she is such a buffoon in the kitchen she has no idea how to make mashed potatoes? We literally get shots of her trying to smash the hard uncooked potatoes in a bowl.
The movie frequently cuts to the family on the road, and one particular scene shows the family accidentally hitting a squirrel or something and they actually get out of the car and have a funeral for the little thing and the son awkwardly makes a speech as the entire family, along with Granny, stand around the newly dug grave. The whole scene feels like it came out of another chapter in the "How to make a quirky Indie film" instructional book. Not a second of it is believable. You half expect them to pull out signs that say "WE ARE A QUIRKY INDIE FILM FAMILY AND THIS SCENE SHOULD GET US AN INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD!!"
The movie then cuts back to April running around her apartment building with her raw turkey trying to find an oven. She is helped by several neighbors including an African American family who want April to set her set her goals higher by NOT using canned cranberry sauce. A nice Chinese family also help her out, one neighbor that does not come off so well is Wayne, who she is told just got a new state of the art oven and Wayne is played by Sean Hayes doing a really bad job at playing a rich snobby character as he shows off the futuristic features of his brand new oven. First you are thinking why would this rather snobby fellow live in this decaying old building? and second you are wondering why he is pushing this forced character with this put on voice, so much?
Finally we see the family get to the building and they are so shocked from seeing how rundown it looks they drive off to a restaurant and while they are sitting there ordering, the mother starts to feel a touch guilty for snubbing her daughter on Thanksgiving so she walks off to speak to some biker who is sitting at the bar, the very next shot is the mother on the back of the motorcycle putting on a helmet which felt like it was pulled right out of yet another chapter in the "How to make a quirky Indie film" instructional book. The biker drives the mother to April's apartment and soon the rest of the family join her and some of the quirky characters from the building come in for Thanksgiving dinner as well, thank god Sean Hayes does not make an appearance doing that badly forced character he probably learned in some improv class sometime in the 80s.
Another annoying thing is through out the entire movie Katie Holmes wears a tank top that looks like she just ran into a kid who just walked out of 31 Flavors with a dozen ice cream cones. If you see the movie you will get the idea.
The movie is entertaining enough and makes for a pleasant viewing.
April is played by Katie Holmes and she does a nice job here. Watching Holmes play this screw up of a girl trying her best to roast a turkey is a fine premise. As the family makes their way on the road to come to dinner, April's oven stops working and most of the story is then watching April go from neighbor to neighbor begging to use their oven. I like that idea, and while Holmes character does feel real most of the time, are we really supposed to believe she is such a buffoon in the kitchen she has no idea how to make mashed potatoes? We literally get shots of her trying to smash the hard uncooked potatoes in a bowl.
The movie frequently cuts to the family on the road, and one particular scene shows the family accidentally hitting a squirrel or something and they actually get out of the car and have a funeral for the little thing and the son awkwardly makes a speech as the entire family, along with Granny, stand around the newly dug grave. The whole scene feels like it came out of another chapter in the "How to make a quirky Indie film" instructional book. Not a second of it is believable. You half expect them to pull out signs that say "WE ARE A QUIRKY INDIE FILM FAMILY AND THIS SCENE SHOULD GET US AN INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD!!"
The movie then cuts back to April running around her apartment building with her raw turkey trying to find an oven. She is helped by several neighbors including an African American family who want April to set her set her goals higher by NOT using canned cranberry sauce. A nice Chinese family also help her out, one neighbor that does not come off so well is Wayne, who she is told just got a new state of the art oven and Wayne is played by Sean Hayes doing a really bad job at playing a rich snobby character as he shows off the futuristic features of his brand new oven. First you are thinking why would this rather snobby fellow live in this decaying old building? and second you are wondering why he is pushing this forced character with this put on voice, so much?
Finally we see the family get to the building and they are so shocked from seeing how rundown it looks they drive off to a restaurant and while they are sitting there ordering, the mother starts to feel a touch guilty for snubbing her daughter on Thanksgiving so she walks off to speak to some biker who is sitting at the bar, the very next shot is the mother on the back of the motorcycle putting on a helmet which felt like it was pulled right out of yet another chapter in the "How to make a quirky Indie film" instructional book. The biker drives the mother to April's apartment and soon the rest of the family join her and some of the quirky characters from the building come in for Thanksgiving dinner as well, thank god Sean Hayes does not make an appearance doing that badly forced character he probably learned in some improv class sometime in the 80s.
Another annoying thing is through out the entire movie Katie Holmes wears a tank top that looks like she just ran into a kid who just walked out of 31 Flavors with a dozen ice cream cones. If you see the movie you will get the idea.
The movie is entertaining enough and makes for a pleasant viewing.