Review of Please Give (2010) by Jk F — 09 Jun 2010

Nicole Holofcener follows up the excellent and vastly underrated 'Friends With Money' with this tale that possibly cements her career as a female cross between Woody Allen and the Neil LaBute of old.

The plot can't really be discussed as it was clearly a device to hang the characters on and to discuss themes of guilt, regret and connection. The performances were all pretty immediate and work successfully as an ensemble.

Catherine Keener's familiar brittleness never gets old, but didn't overshadow the other players, most notably Amanda Peet in what has to be a career-best turn. While visually pretty uninteresting (not a drawback) the pacing, editing and direction were top-notch; the characters pretty much flew off the screen.

This film lingers long after it's finished; thankfully, it was definitely worth savouring.