"Please Give"

“Please Give” (Directed by Nicole Holofcner, 2010)

What does it mean to be good? Written and directed by Nicole Holofcner, “Please Give” poses this question and explores its impact on genuine characters. At the center of the story is an old woman, played by Ann Guilbert, whose birthday brings the family living next door (Oliver Platt, Catherine Keener and Sarah Steele) together with her granddaughters (Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet). In a film where nothing really happens, the story of two well-off New York families’ struggles with their day-to-day relationships is supported through a clever script and strong ensemble acting.

The contrast of Keener’s Kate to Hall’s Rebecca highlights the spectrum of “good” throughout the film. Kate, who sells vintage furniture with her husband, generously throws her money at the homeless characters frequenting the city landscape—and at one man who ends up being not so homeless—yet is simultaneously waiting for her elderly neighbor to die so she can turn the apartment into a master bedroom. She searches to do real good in volunteer work only to fail at every venture unable to not be emotionally affected by others. In one scene she ends up in bawling in a bathroom stall after watching mentally challenged children play basketball and is asked to leave by the volunteer coordinator.

Rebecca, a radiation technician defining “good” with dedication and loyalty to her cantankerous grandmother and superficial sister, ends up being the only character whose life makes the obvious transition from worse to better. Her subtle changes after she sees the much talked about leaves change colors in upstate New York are believable and heartwarming. Both Keener and Hall carry their character’s emotional burdens well, always with a hint of struggle under the surface. Keener brings a control to Kate’s everyday persona and seamlessly shifts into scenes of honest emotional outbreaks while Hall portrays Rebecca effortlessly with a reserve and meekness that highlight the character’s burdens, past and present, weighing her spirit down.

While every character brings a natural spirit to the screen, the stand-out in her scenes was Steele as Kate’s 15-year-old daughter Abby. The energy of a scene was immediately lifted once she entered. Encapsulating the character of a real teen, Abby’s battle with good is tracked through finding the perfect pair of jeans and an acne-free face. Shrouded with the superficial struggles of appearance, Steele’s performance highlights Abby’s deeper battle of trying to make sense of her parent’s life decisions. This character could have easily taken a dive as one of Hollywood’s fast-talking quirky odd-girls-out, but instead Steele grounds the character in reality and carries on the standard of believable characters set by the older, more experienced actors in the film.

The simplicity of the cinematography and subtle score leave the focus on the acting and let the film stand as what it is: an ensemble piece. Developing a simple story through complex characters creates an emotional connection to each character whose qualities are easily visible without outside distractions of a trendy soundtrack or confusing plot lines. This formula is followed through to the end, and without a contrived happy ending, “Please Give” realistically leaves its characters a little wiser, with an open-ended view on where their lives will turn next.