Please Give

Plot summary

Kate (Keener) and Alex (Platt) are a couple living in a New York City apartment with their teenage daughter, Abby (Sarah Steele). Kate and Alex own a furniture store specializing in used modern furniture, which they buy at estate sales. They have bought the apartment adjacent to theirs, but its occupant, the elderly and cranky Andra (Guilbert), will stay in it until she dies. Andra has two granddaughters, the dutiful and generous Rebecca (Hall), a breast cancer Radiologic Technologist, and the cynical, sharp-tongued Mary (Peet), a cosmetologist.

Kate is troubled by the profits she makes from furniture sellers who do not know the value of what they are selling; the contrast between homeless people in her neighborhood and her own comfortable life; and the fact that her family will only be able to expand their apartment when Andra dies. She tries to assuage her guilt through volunteer jobs (which leave her weeping) and donations to homeless individuals (which sometimes backfire).

Cast

Release

Please Give was screened out of competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, and had a limited U.S. release on April 30, 2010. It opened with $118,123 in five theaters, averaging $23,625 per cinema.

Filming

Please Give was filmed almost entirely in New York City. The bulk of the film was shot in Chelsea, the spa scenes at Skintology, a chic day and medical spa in that area.

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, it has a current metascore of 78 out of 100, based on 35 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an 86% approval rating.