Please Give
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 30, 2010
7.5
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 64 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
50
Mixed:
12
Negative:
2
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
9
ScottB.May 2, 2010
Honest, intelligent, original, funny, engaging, understated and clever. In a market with so many movies relying on it's main character saving the world or blowing up a city, it is refreshing to have a movie where the excitement comes in Honest, intelligent, original, funny, engaging, understated and clever. In a market with so many movies relying on it's main character saving the world or blowing up a city, it is refreshing to have a movie where the excitement comes in a nod, gesture or any other slight movement that, here, has so much more meaning and resonance than any other movie where the lead characters do/accomplish 1000 times more than any of these characters do. SEE THIS MOVIE.… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful
9
alexwMay 4, 2010
I was sad to see the reviews this movie received after thinking about it all evening....this movie was nearly perfect. Actors were pitch perfect... amanda peet especially. The script couldnt have more portrayed more perfectly New York City I was sad to see the reviews this movie received after thinking about it all evening....this movie was nearly perfect. Actors were pitch perfect... amanda peet especially. The script couldnt have more portrayed more perfectly New York City living- the characters, the apartment talk, and most importantly the balance between having a stone front and a warm heart. it was a fabulous hilarious and thoughtful movie. well done!… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful
9
DWillyBMay 31, 2010
I don't normally have much use for this type of film, I was left cold by this writer/director's "Friends With Money," but the ensemble performs flawlessly (directed to the height of their known capabilities) with a unique script I don't normally have much use for this type of film, I was left cold by this writer/director's "Friends With Money," but the ensemble performs flawlessly (directed to the height of their known capabilities) with a unique script that really has something to say, is moving and funny as hell. I can give it the highest compliment in that I've been thinking and talking about it all the following day now, and would like to see it again.… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful
1
LisaCJun 12, 2010
What a horrible movie! I am so glad I saw this alone, and didn't inflict the tedium, incoherence, and gratuitous poor taste on a friend. I am a big indie movie fan, and am so disappointed in Keener and Platt for stooping to such a poor movie.
0 of 1 users found this helpful
5
DeathrompMar 23, 2011
There seems to be something profoundly disturbing, and achingly modern (in the worst way) to Please Give - for one the dialogue works because itâ
0 of 1 users found this helpful01
All this user's reviews
6
NancyG.May 30, 2010
Disappointing movie! The reviews had me hoping for a really good film, but this was dull, depressing, and not really funny.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
9
LeoF.Jun 4, 2010
I'm not sure what this movie is supposed to be about, but it sure is nice sitting through it. Superb performances by the entire cast, but Katherine Keener is a knockout in the lead role.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
TedBJun 6, 2010
Sweet, but ultimately boring and inconsequential.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
7
MikeDJun 7, 2010
Enjoyable and different, but when it's over you're not quite sure what to make of it.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
8
DanaMMay 23, 2010
Very entertaining story. Well directed and acted. Worth the $10 to see on the big screen. My wife and I found ourselves laughing out loud many times.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
9
[Anonymous]Jun 18, 2010
This movie is a wonderful slice of life piece, with characters that feel real. It is not a pretty, Hollywood-ized version of life but the real thing. And there isn't necessarily a 'point' other than that everyone is This movie is a wonderful slice of life piece, with characters that feel real. It is not a pretty, Hollywood-ized version of life but the real thing. And there isn't necessarily a 'point' other than that everyone is complicated, troubled and interesting in their own way, no matter how mundane their life might seem from the outside.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
10
AustinWMay 25, 2010
A really great movie - possibly her best. Holofcener is quickly becoming one of my favorite writer/directors. The whole cast is brilliant, and the characters are rich and complex.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
8
MatthewAug 12, 2010
I thought this was a wonderful comedy of manners movie. It was about feeling bad for people with less than us and questioning out moral integrity. It was very well acted from all actors. Good direction and hilarious writing. I laughed outI thought this was a wonderful comedy of manners movie. It was about feeling bad for people with less than us and questioning out moral integrity. It was very well acted from all actors. Good direction and hilarious writing. I laughed out loud several times. And this movie was also surprisingly thought-provoking. Well worth seeing.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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2
mattlimesJan 1, 2011
This is a pretentious, boring movie. Just isn't as good as ppl are saying. Nothing happens. Leaves no impression whatsoever. Mostly, I just wished I hadn't wasted 2 hours after seeing it.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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7
JennetPNov 19, 2010
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I wanted to like this film more than I did. I appreciated the diffuse narrative and the fearless performances, especially by the pitch-perfect Keener, but I couldn't help thinking that Holofcener stumbled into Woody Allen's New York, where everyone is neurotic AND wears their neuroses on their sleeves at all times. Thematically, the film is downright clumsy; to question the ethics of commerce, as Keener's character does, is to be overwrought and paralyzed, de-sexed and in need of some serious "retail therapy." In the film's final epiphany, Keener buys her horrible little daughter the $235 jeans she has been angling for throughout the film and everyone gets the warm fuzzies--except for this reviewer, who had an inexplicable urge to take a shower and re-read Das Kapital. Still, kudos for avoiding most Hollywood cliches, which promises greater subtlety in films to come.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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5
SecretAgentGalSep 19, 2010
Nicole Holofcener writes and directs Please Give, a tart, touching indie drama about generosity and selfishness. Holofcener (Lovely & Amazing, Friends With Money) explores familiar territory in her latest film, showing the comedy and pathosNicole Holofcener writes and directs Please Give, a tart, touching indie drama about generosity and selfishness. Holofcener (Lovely & Amazing, Friends With Money) explores familiar territory in her latest film, showing the comedy and pathos of haves and have nots in Manhattan.

Women's breasts are readied for scanning by mammogram technician Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) in the striking opening scene. Pale, serious Rebecca comforts and assists an unending parade of patients. A compulsive giver, she's not receiving much. Rebecca lives with her elderly grandmother and rarely goes out, not even to see the fall foliage upstate. To her, breasts are neither beautiful nor repulsive, but "tubes that can get infected."

Holofcener shows the interplay between two Manhattan families, reflecting America's uneasy balance of wealth and poverty. Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) are a wealthy couple that resell contemporary antiques in their city showroom. The two live and work together all day long, an arrangement bound to strain any marriage. Adding to that tension is Kate as she plunks $20 bills into the hand of any homeless person she meets. Opportunities to profit and feel guilty about it abound as Kate and Alex acquire estate furniture bargains from grieving adults. Meanwhile their 15-year-old daughter Abby (refreshing Sarah Steele) begs for a pair of $200 designer jeans.

Living next door is 91-year-old Andra (Ann Guilbert, who played nosy neighbor Millie Helper on the Dick Van Dyke Show). In space-hungry Manhattan, Kate and Alex have already purchased Andra's apartment and plan to expand their living space after she dies. Meanwhile they are genuinely polite to the cantankerous neighbor and her granddaughters Rebecca (Hall) and sexpot Mary (Amanda Peet). Peet (Somethingâ… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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9
TonyOct 11, 2010
An extremely pleasant film with fantastic performances, especially from Catherine Keener and Rebecca Hall. The script is funny, bittersweet, smart, and biting. All in all, it's a great little feature from Holofcener.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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10
TaplingerOct 21, 2010
I'm sure there isn't a writer/director who can do a better job than Holofcener. Each scene, each dialog is taut and funny even when it's tragic. It's a very New York movie and I'm not sure how many jokes and situations non-New Yorkers willI'm sure there isn't a writer/director who can do a better job than Holofcener. Each scene, each dialog is taut and funny even when it's tragic. It's a very New York movie and I'm not sure how many jokes and situations non-New Yorkers will get, but Ms. Holofcener is an absolutely amazing talent.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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7
OscarPicks2010Dec 21, 2010
From the director that brought you Lovely & Amazing, Nicole Holofcener's Please Give developed interesting characters and a well-related plot. Charms from both the leads, Oliver Patt & Catherine Keener, helped a lot with their complexFrom the director that brought you Lovely & Amazing, Nicole Holofcener's Please Give developed interesting characters and a well-related plot. Charms from both the leads, Oliver Patt & Catherine Keener, helped a lot with their complex characters. Please Give is a simple plot where economy and relationship problems occurs. But the director and writer is so elegant in their story-telling and directing, it is almost impossible to not be interested in Please Give.Going slow at times and acting from supporting roles seems laughable, Please Give still gave a lot without being asked.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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10
RachelleDec 15, 2010
Really interesting movie...Oliver Platt, Kathrine Keener. Great acting, very subtle. It seems to me that the writer actually wrote for an intelligent audience. Go figure.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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7
j30Sep 22, 2011
Funny and engaging movie of two worlds colliding after lose.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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8
BelmsherAug 10, 2011
This has to be one of the most underrated comedies ever. So pure, perfect characters, hilarious dialogues, so down to earth and completely different from any other comedy i've seen... not the best in its type but definitely deserved more attention!
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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