Please Give
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Stars: Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt
Rate: * 1/2
This thoroughly nasty film could almost be a horror movie, given its emphasis on death and decay.
This fourth feature by writer/director Nicole Holofcener (Lovely & Amazing), set in Manhattan, is yet another ramble through the tiny world of the affluent and the idle, a particular fascination of Holofcener’s.
She again casts her muse Catherine Keener in a key role, although Keener has dialed her acerbic wit way down. Her character Kate is paralyzed by liberal guilt, so much so she hands out $20 bills to homeless people.
Kate has money and the blues because she and her oily husband Alex (Oliver Platt) run a successful antique shop, selling at high profit goods they obtain through ambulance chasing.
Their biggest score awaits right next door. It’s the home of obnoxious neighbour Andra (Ann Morgan Guilbert), 91. The moment she pops off, Andra’s apartment will be busted up to expand the living space of Kate, Alex and their spoiled teen daughter Abby (Sarah Steele).
Please Give isn’t a pleasant or amusing movie to watch.
