Please Give

''Please Give'' is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Nicole Holofcener. It stars Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Ann Guilbert, and Sarah Steele. It revolves around married antique-dealers butting heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2010, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 30, 2010, by Sony Pictures Classics. It grossed over $4.5 million worldwide against a $3 million budget. It received positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised Holofcener's screenplay and the performances of the cast, and was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2010 by the National Board of Review. At the 26th Independent Spirit Awards, the film was given the Robert Altman Award and Holofcener was nominated for Best Screenplay.

Plot summary

Kate and Alex are a couple living in a New York City apartment with their teenage daughter, Abby. Kate and Alex own a furniture store specializing in used modern furniture, which they buy at estate sales. They have bought the apartment adjacent to theirs, but its occupant, the elderly and cranky Andra, will stay in it until she dies. Andra has two granddaughters, the dutiful and generous Rebecca, a mammography technologist, and the cynical, sharp-tongued Mary, a cosmetologist.

Kate is troubled by the profits she makes from furniture sellers who do not know the value of what they are selling; the contrast between homeless people in her neighborhood and her own comfortable life; and the fact that her family will only be able to expand their apartment when Andra dies. She tries to assuage her guilt through volunteer jobs (which leave her weeping) and donations to homeless individuals (which sometimes backfire).

Cast

Release

''Please Give'' was screened out of competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, and had a limited U.S. release on April 30, 2010. It opened with $118,123 in five theaters, averaging $23,625 per cinema.

Filming

''Please Give'' was filmed almost entirely in New York City. The bulk of the film was shot in Chelsea, including the spa scenes at Skintology, a day and medical spa.

Reception

Box office

''Please Give'' grossed $4,033,574 in the United States and Canada, and $533,088 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $4,566,662.

Critical response

Manohla Dargis of ''The New York Times'' opined, "Few American filmmakers create female characters as realistically funny, attractively imperfect and flat-out annoying as does Ms. Holofcener."

Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times'' stated, "''Please Give'' concerns itself with the free-floating, amorphous guilt that's often characteristic of the modern urban condition. Obviously, it is a fine thing to help, to give, but ''Please Give'' wonders whether a good thing can be overdone, whether too much liberal guilt can leave you feeling too bad for too many people to do any real good."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the film an "A−" and wrote, "With their shared characteristics of sex, age, motherhood, and brunet hair, Keener has become Holofcener's artistic alter ego. In ''Please Give'', the sharp-eyed filmmaker sends her vibrant representative out into the world to explore what it means for a woman to be lucky and still feel itchy."

Justin Chang of '' Variety'' commented, "Like Holofcener's previous pictures, ''Please Give'' derives its narrative energy less from a series of plotted incidents than from its keenly observed interplay of clashing personality tics and worldviews."

David Edelstein of ''New York Magazine'' described the film as "an engagingly high-strung comedy about lack of empathy and the gnawing guilt that can attend it" and remarked, "Holofcener's plotting can seem casual, but her dialogue is smart, an oscillating mixture of abrasiveness and balm, of harsh satire and compassionate pullback."

Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and noted, "The pitch-perfect performances help Holofcener stir up feelings that cut to the heart of what defines an ethical life. There's no movie around right now with a subject more pertinent. It'll hit you hard."

Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "''Please Give'' is an interesting and refreshing turn for the better. As an ensemble comedy, it has more bounce, more life and more comic oxygen."

Accolades

At the 15th Satellite Awards, the film's editor Robert Frazen won for Best Editing. It was also nominated for Best Film – Musical or Comedy, ultimately losing to '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World''.

References

External links

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{{Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award

2010 films
2010 black comedy films
2010 comedy-drama films
2010 independent films
2010s American films
2010s English-language films
American black comedy films
American comedy-drama films
American independent films
English-language black comedy films
English-language independent films
Films about adultery in the United States
Films about families
Films directed by Nicole Holofcener
Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York City
Films with screenplays by Nicole Holofcener
Satellite Award–winning films
Sony Pictures Classics films