Please Give (2010)

Comedy, Drama

Director: Nicole Holofcener
Writer: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Elizabeth Keener, Elise Ivy, Catherine Keener

Kate (Catherine Keener) is an antique dealer who runs her own business with her husband Alex (Oliver Platt). She buys her merchandise from estate sales and sells it as vintage furniture in their trendy Manhattan store. She has it pretty good. But she is conflicted with the fact that some around her don't. And she starts looking to find a volunteer activity that relieve her of the guilt she feels about her good fortune.

While planning to combine units and expand their living space with the next door apartment, dwelled by Andra, their cranky elderly tenant, Kate and Alex cross paths with Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) and Mary (Amanda Peet), the old woman's adult granddaughters.

The fourth, out of five (so far), films made by Nicole Holofcener, all starring Catherine Keener, Please Give is a good piece of modern-day American drama, with sharp, original dialogue, brilliant casting and an absorbing story.

Plot summary from IMDb: Two families, sort of neighbors in Manhattan, cross paths as they navigate marriage, parenthood of a teen, ennui, a first date, and end-of-life care. Rebecca and Mary are sisters; their cranky 91-year-old grandmother's neighbors, Kateand Alex, run an upscale retro-furniture business, and will expand into her flat after she dies. Rebecca is quiet, without a boyfriend until a patient at the clinic where she works introduces her grandson. Mary is acerbic, stung by a recent breakup. Kate looks for meaning in her life, wondering if she should volunteer. Alex, too, is at loose ends. Their daughter, Abby, has zits and teenage moods. What does it mean to be good?

Awards: 6 wins & 14 nominations.
Runtime: 90 min
R