Please Give
Review
by Anthony Morris
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Please Give
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Kate (Catherine Keener) makes a living buying up furniture cheap
from deceased estates and then selling it in her trendy retro store.
Her
home life runs along a similar path : together with her husband (Oliver
Platt), they have bought the apartment next to theirs with an eye to
knocking down the dividing wall, and are just waiting for the cranky
old lady (Ann Guilbert) who lives there to die.
There is
nothing amazingly evil about any of this, but Kate is tormented by the
idea of other people's suffering, handing out large sums to the
homeless people who live on their block while refusing to by her
daughter (Sarah Steele) fashionable jeans. She even throws
a birthday party for their neighbour, inviting her two granddaughters
Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) and Mary (Amanda Peet).
Rebecca sticks
by her grandmother despite her complaining and acid tongue while Mary
looks after herself - and it's hard to know which path is the better
one.
As usual, Keener is excellent as a woman who means well
but can't see a way to turn her feelings into useful actions, but the
cast is across-the-board good and animate the often subtle script with
skilful minimalism.
This comedy of manners is often hilarious despite - or because of - the hefty issues it raises about how we live our lives.
There
is no right or wrong here, just a group of people muddling their way
through, and if their search for answers throws up a lot of laughs - so
much the better. 4 out
of 5
Please Give
Australian release: 9th September,
2010
Official
Site: Please Give
Cast: Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall
Director: Nicole Holofcener
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