Please Give
Encyclopedia
Please Give is a 2010 dark comedy film written and directed by Nicole Holofcener
Nicole Holofcener
Nicole Holofcener is an American film and television director. She has directed four feature films, most recently Please Give.-Career:...

 and starring Catherine Keener
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...

. It is the fourth film Keener and Holofcener have made together. The film also stars Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...

, Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...

, Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Maria Hall is an English actress.In 2003, Hall won the Ian Charleson Award for her debut stage performance in a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession...

, Elizabeth Keener
Elizabeth Keener
Elizabeth Keener is an American actress. She is best known for playing Dawn Denbo on the Showtime American lesbian drama, The L Word....

, Kevin Corrigan
Kevin Corrigan
Kevin Fitzgerald Corrigan is an American actor who has appeared mostly in independent films and television since the 1990s.-Life and career:Corrigan was born in The Bronx, New York to an Irish-American father and a Puerto Rican mother...

, and Ann Guilbert.

Plot summary

Kate (Keener) and Alex (Platt) are a couple living in a New York City apartment with their teenage daughter, Abby (Sarah Steele
Sarah Steele
Sarah Jane Steele is an American actress who got her first break into the film industry by beating thousands of young hopeful females for the role of Bernice in the 2004 film, Spanglish.- Life and career :...

). Kate and Alex own a furniture store specializing in used modern furniture
Modern furniture
Modern furniture refers to furniture produced from the late 19th century through the present that is influenced by modernism. It was a tremendous departure from all furniture design that had gone before it. Dark or gilded carved wood and richly patterned fabrics gave way to the glittering...

, which they buy at estate sale
Estate sale
An estate sale or estate liquidation is a sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased or who must dispose of his personal property to facilitate a move.-Reasons for an estate sale:...

s. They have bought the apartment adjacent to theirs, but its occupant, the elderly and cranky Andra (Guilbert), will stay in it until she dies. Andra has two granddaughters, the dutiful and generous Rebecca (Hall), a breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

 radiology technician, and the cynical, sharp-tongued Mary (Peet), 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).

Release

Please Give was screened out of competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival
60th Berlin International Film Festival
The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 11 to February 21, 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama Apart Together, in competition, while the closing film is Japanese...

, 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
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The bulk of the film was shot in Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...

, the spa scenes at Skintology, a chic day and medical spa in that area.

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website, Metacritic, it has a current metascore of 77 based on 27 critic reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 89% approval rating.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK