'Please Give' is a simple, yet effective story of love, family, life, and death

Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, Please Give is a comedy-drama that tells a bracingly original story of an NYC woman burdened by guilt underneath her success. The film is a lovely package of varying themes that range from love, to life, to self-image, and is as uplifting as it is gently heartbreaking, and comes with a small dosage of dark irony.

Kate (Catherine Keener) is a Manhattan resident who shares a thriving business with her loving husband Alex (an enjoyable Oliver Platt) selling vintage furniture. She is a caring mother to an image-conscious teenage daughter Abbey (Sarah Steele), and is worried about her daughter's insecurities. On top of it all, Kate puts her family at unease as she has trouble enjoying her success while others are living out on the streets. Nextdoor to them lives an elderly woman named Andra (a humourous performance by Ann Morgan Guilbert), who is cared for by her two granddaughters played by Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet. Kate's family plans to buy Andra's apartment after she passes away; and in the meantime, tries to develop a friendly relationship with the rude grandmother and her two granddaughters.

Catherine Keener is the picture of a compassionate mother and good-samaritan. Rebecca Hall, Amanda Peet, and Sarah Steele portray their characters with such fragility as they try to confront the dliemmas that life has dealt them, that in the end, the results are all too real and relevant. The characters aren't just relatable to the audience; they also relate to each other through varying themes over the course of the story. As these connections are better identified, the bonds between the characters, along with their respective theme, become stronger.

Please Give handles its characters and subject matter with delicacy. The film delivers its messages with subtlty and never seems preachy. Despite the diversity of its themes, Nicole Holofcener successfully intertwines them, rather than just leaving them in separate pieces. There is a lot of truth to this film, and that is what gives it that extra punch.

Final grade: A-