Kate is the central character, though not the onlymajor one, in Please Give, a smartlywritten film from indie director Nicole Holofcener. An amusing scenario ofcontemporary ethical uncertainty in the always picturesque setting of Manhattan, Please Give tries to negotiate betweenthe moral poles of altruism and selfishness. A sharp businesswoman, Kate feelsguilty, as if she’s robbing graves for her boutique. She presses $20 bills intothe hands of the homeless who begin to camp around her condo. But her goodintentions are often steppingstones to embarrassment. When she offers hercarryout to a black man on the sidewalk, she never guesses that he’s the patronof an expensive, trendy restaurant waiting outside for a table.
Kate’s husband and business partner, Alex (OliverPlatt), is in mid-life crisis and lurches into an affair with the coldhearted,unkind granddaughter (Amanda Peet) of their senescent neighbor lady. That agedwoman (Ann Guilbert), stubbornly clinging to life, has lost all self-censorshipand discretion. Fortunately, her other granddaughter, Rebecca (Rebecca Hall),is compassionate if narrowly focused. Kate’s acne-infected, iPod-wired teenager(Sarah Steele) is in revolt against her mother’s verbal evasions and show ofconcern for the less fortunate. “No one ever says the truth!” she says inexasperation.
Please Give’sweakness is its assumption of a widespread aversion against dealers incollectibles who turn over their discoveries for profit. Kate’s professionalguilt doesn’t ring true, unless it echoes unease over the materialism of peopleunable to define themselves beyond the things they own. Along with findingdroll humor in everyday people and situations, Please Give excels for its fully rounded characters, people whofall short while trying to do the right thing and occasionally do somethingright without even caring.
