Review of Please Give (2010) by Deetta B — 14 Jun 2010

"Please Give," the new film from Nicole Holofcener ("Friends with Money"), is the best of 2010 thus far, after Matthew Vaughn's "Kick-Ass." After a bleak winter season at the movies, we're finally getting some good films in theaters. Ah, the joys of spring!

"Please Give" is an ensemble dramedy set in Manhattan (and for a change, even filmed here). Reminiscent of Tamara Jenkins' under-rated "The Savages" (2007), Holofcener's film is a meditation on death and living. Although not as brutal as "The Savages," it does look squarely into the face of sadness and loss. But it is also the funniest film I've seen in years.

Especially side-splitting is the send-up of irascible old people. Ann Guilbert, playing a 90-year-old, had me and everyone else in my theater rolling in the aisles. A beautiful counterpoint to Guilbert was Sarah Steele's insightful and touching portrayal of self-absorbed youth. Steele gets the movie's biggest laugh when she comes to the dinner table wearing a certain under-garment as a hat.

Amanda Peet also does some very interesting work as a woman on the verge of middle age who is still struggling to be a pretty girl. The problem is that Peet's character seems to have wandered in from a movie parodying suburbia (or maybe Los Angeles?). I've never met a single Manhattanite desperate for the perfect tan. But in suburbia, that particular head case abounds.

This reveals the principal weakness of the film. Holofcener had about three different movie ideas in mind when she drafted the script. Unfortunately, she didn't pare it down to one. So at times, the script has a chaotic and over-stuffed quality. It's all great stuff, but sometimes it is a bit messy and jumbled.

Not only is there one too many characters, there is also one too many themes. Infidelity, for example, comes up but then goes nowhere. Holofcener has a gift; it's too bad she hesitates to edit herself. She is a very good second-rate filmmaker. With better discipline and focus, she could become first-rate. She scratches many interesting surfaces. I'd like to see her do a sustained analysis on one or two themes. Then we might have something really substantial to learn from her.

Then also her films might rate a 9. But in a world of sixes and sevens, an 8 is nothing to sneeze at. "Please Give" ranks an 8 out of 10 but is a must-see nonetheless.