Kate has a lot on her mind. There’s the ethics problem of buying furniture on the cheap at estate sales and marking it up at her trendy Manhattan store. There’s the materialism problem of not wanting her teenage daughter to want the expensive things that Kate wants. There’s the marriage problem of sharing a partnership in parenting, business, and life with her husband Alex but sensing doubt nibbling at the foundations. And there’s Kate’s free-floating 21st century malaise—the problem of how to live well and be a good person when poverty, homelessness, and sadness are always right outside the door. Plus, there’s the neighbors: cranky, elderly Andra and the two granddaughters who look after her. As Kate, Alex, and Abby interact with the people next door, with each other, and with their New York surroundings, a complex mix of animosity, friendship, deception, guilt, and love plays out with both sharp humor and pathos.
Written by: Nicole Holofcener
Directed by: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Sarah Steel, and Ann Guilbert
Reviews:
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This gorgeous film, always tender and sometimes dark, is a deeply resonant comic drama that's concerned with nothing less than life, death, love, sex, guilt and the urban logic of mortality.
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Holofcener's work is often classified as comedy of manners, but at her best she trades in something much more resonant--the comedy of mores. Here she dives into the fascinating matter of why some people impulsively give and others compulsively take, and how people are taught to second-guess and quash their own generous impulses.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Calvin Wilson
Sophisticated comedies have gone out of fashion, largely because Hollywood finds it easier and more profitable to simply gross out moviegoers. But Please Give has real class -- and for that it deserves our gratitude.
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
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. The report has the resonant ring of truth.
The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Some people might find it distasteful to make a movie about guilty rich folks who give themselves permission to splurge. Others will rightly appreciate the honesty.
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
With her new film, the poignant and funny Please Give, Holofcener is at the top of her game.
Movieline Stephanie Zacharek
I suspect nearly everyone who sees the picture will have a loud opinion about this ending, which is just one way Holofcener works her stealth magic as a filmmaker and storyteller: She doesn’t close up shop on her movie until she’s made each of us an honorary New Yorker — in other words, a person with a strong stance and something to say.
Arizona Republic Bill Goodykoontz
Please Give is an almost perfectly rendered slice of life, buoyant with wonderful performances.
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
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.
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Holofcener has accrued a rabid, loyal following for her singular brand of observant wit and aching tenderness. Both pour forth in abundance in Please Give, a wry, wistful portrait of contemporary urban manners.
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The cast is uniformly spectacular, infusing the characters with nuance and complexity.
Boston Globe Ty Burr
Please Give is a moral comedy that feels at times like one of the late Eric Rohmer’s deceptively breezy miniatures, or a mid-period Woody Allen movie minus the fussiness.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie is about imperfect characters in a difficult world, who mostly do the best they can under the circumstances, but not always. Do you realize what a revolutionary approach that is for a movie these days?
USA Today Claudia Puig
Sometimes -- and far too rarely -- a film will hit all the right notes, with sharp, original dialogue, brilliant casting and an absorbing story. So caught up in its spell, you dread seeing the credits roll. Please Give is that movie.
NPR Ella Taylor
Like all her (Holofcener) movies, Please Give is multitonal, as tenderly sympathetic as it is tough toward all its tortured, even unlikable characters.
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
There are laughs and moments of pain and many instances of embarrassing (and deeply human) behavior throughout, but there's also delicacy and grace.
Empire David Hughes
An indie with real pedigree and smarts, Holofcener's comedy of manners is well-observered and well worth watching.
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
It's guilt that gives life, shape and depth to this uncommonly perceptive film.
Boxoffice Magazine Richard Mowe
It may take some time but Nicole Holofcener’s latest effort gradually grows on you. Partly it’s her obvious affection for her oddball collection of characters; partly it’s the performances of the likes of Keener and Oliver Platt as her wayward husband.
The New Yorker David Denby
Like a finely wrought short story, and it's all but perfect.
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