Pieces of April

'Pieces of April' has been turning up on the MGM channel for ages now and though I have meant to give it a look, I've never really mustered up enough enthusiasm to do so. Until yesterday.
Black sheep tearaway April (Katie Holmes) invites her family for Thanksgiving. We move between the family on their journey to New York to April's struggles with the turkey, while all along the threat of her mother's cancer hangs over proceedings.
From its cast of competent character actors (Patricia Clarkson, Oliver Platt), to its video look, to its Magnetic Fields soundtrack, to its cosy liberal inclusive values, this screams 'Indie'. And it's frequently annoying. More than once I moved my finger to the off button on the remote. But it's short and it almost gets away with things by having a departure towards the end that actually makes you empathise with the otherwise artificial April. Still it's all so nauseatingly maudlin as to make you wish they all got food poisoning.