Please Give was like a breath of fresh air after Greenberg last weekend. There are some superb characters each flawed in there own way but it has heart, humour and a tenderness which in some small dose might have made the Noah Baumbach film more bearable.
But back to Please Give. First there is Kate played by Catherine Keener who, with her husband Alex (Oliver Platt) buys furniture from the relatives of dead people and sells it at vastly marked up prices from her chic and trendy vintage shop. Her charitable acts, namely giving large sums to beggars, much to her teenage daughters embarrassment, are partially motivated by the guilt she feels in how she earns a living.
Then there is the elderly neighbour Andra (Ann Morgan Guilbert). Kate and Alex, have bought her apartment and are waiting for her to die so they can knock through. Andra is a rude, cantankerous, ungrateful and straight-talking old lady. Her granddaughter Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is quiet and thoughtful while her sister Mary (Amanda Peet) is self-centred, flirty and doesn't hide how she feels about her burdensome grandmother, rarely visiting and letting her sister do the lion-share of the caring.
Writer/director Nicole Holofcener has created a colourful and interesting bunch of characters, exposing their flaws as well as their redeeming features with a witty, well-observed script, neat plot lines and character arcs. There are also some great performances from the predominantly female cast.
Please Give leaves you feeling satisfied that, while no one has dramatically changed, they have at least learnt something about themselves along the way. It is warm, engaging and above all entertaining.
What others thought:
Sukdev Sandhu in the Telegraph gave it three stars saying: "Touching: that’s what makes Holofcener’s films so lovely. They are beady-eyed satires, sure, but they’re also fundamentally kind-hearted."
HeyUGuys didn't give a rating but said: "Please Give is a witty, intelligent bleak comedy which has those inevitabilities, death and taxes (or money), at its heart."
Rotten Tomatoes UK rated it 88%
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