Please Give
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 30, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe 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. Read full review
100
Chicago ReaderJ.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. Read full review
100
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin 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. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel 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. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa 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. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
With her new film, the poignant and funny Please Give, Holofcener is at the top of her game. Read full review
90
MovielineStephanie 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. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Please Give is an almost perfectly rendered slice of life, buoyant with wonderful performances. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia 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. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter 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. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger 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? Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy 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. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn 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. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The cast is uniformly spectacular, infusing the characters with nuance and complexity. Read full review
85
NPRElla Taylor
Like all her (Holofcener) movies, Please Give is multitonal, as tenderly sympathetic as it is tough toward all its tortured, even unlikable characters. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn 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. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineRichard 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. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Like a finely wrought short story, and it's all but perfect. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
It's guilt that gives life, shape and depth to this uncommonly perceptive film. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Hughes
An indie with real pedigree and smarts, Holofcener's comedy of manners is well-observered and well worth watching. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A stroll with these characters is a refreshing break from from the usual film exercises. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The characters are entertainingly contradictory, though in a somewhat predictable way: Nice people aren’t honest, and honest people aren’t nice. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A movie as generous, stingy, and biting - and memorable - as its six main characters. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
A dramatic comedy that is light on plot but generous in spirit, a leisurely, understated film that underscores the ever-present modern guilt while -- oddly, given the weightiness of that central conceit -- boasting a satisfying buoyancy. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin Chang
Keener, so deliciously nasty in Holofcener's "Lovely and Amazing," is no less engaging here in what is, surprisingly, the film's least bitchy role. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Holofcener’s plotting can seem casual (many characters, no speeches pointing up the themes, no conventional climaxes), but her dialogue is smart, an oscillating mixture of abrasiveness and balm, of harsh satire and compassionate pullback. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
It is, for the most part, witty and engrossing. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Few American filmmakers create female characters as realistically funny, attractively imperfect and flat-out annoying as does Ms. Holofcener, whose features include “Friends With Money” and “Lovely & Amazing.” Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve Persall
When the fadeout comes, viewers may feel as unsatisfied with the movie as these characters are with their lives. Read full review
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