Kate and Alex own a successful, upscale second-hand furniture store; they buy estate items from grieving families and turn a tidy profit. Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) also own the apartment next door to theirs, and are impatiently waiting for its former owner and current occupant to die before they can knock down some walls and start the renovations. The old lady is cantankerous enough that they don’t feel particularly guilty about this, though their repeated run-ins with her granddaughters (Rebecca Hall, Amanda Peet) are increasingly awkward.
That sounds kind of brutal, but what writer-director Nicole Holofcener has created in Kate is actually a very interesting, nuanced character who’s experiencing some of that white woman, liberal guilt that comes with middle age and introspection. Kate is living 
in complex economic times that challenge her notions of propriety. She can’t pass a homeless person without contributing to their cup, which makes her privileged teenage daughter somehow feel deprived. There’s something really fascinating about Kate; she’s complex, and not afraid to have conflicting emotions. She has mastered the world in which she lives but while she isn’t comfortable holding the reins, she’s not a hypocrite, and she knows deep down she wouldn’t want it any other way. Meanwhile, the women next door, in less than ideal circumstances, provide a nice contrast to Kate’s guilty affluence.
Catherine Keener continues to be under-rated but she’s really terrific in Please Give – it’s inspired casting. Kate’s empathy and ambition give her a complexity that’s rarely seen and difficult to pull off, and I can imagine it being a lot less successful in almost any other hands. The movie feels a little slight at times, a little thin in plot, but everyone has a point of view and the film maker trusts us to sit with the themes and experience our own version of existential reckoning.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Not heard of Catherine Keener, sounds an interesting movie.
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I don’t remember this movie all that well, but I do remember the main character buying her bitch daughter jeans at the end. I didn’t particularly like it, maybe I should give it another shot?
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This is right up my alley. I love these hyper-realistic, meandering, dialogue driven movies that make you think…and think…(I’m not being facetious here. I really do like these movies.) I think Catherine Keener is a great actor. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m definitely going to check it out.
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I get it because I agree. I like pokey, talk-alot movies. They’re just like me!
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This is a film I have not heard of but sounds interesting. If we think these people don’t exist…think again.
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I’ll have to keep an eye out for this.
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I always like Catherine Keener and it sounds like a good character piece. Plus I’ve loved Oliver Platt since that truly awesome Three Musketeers movie ages ago! I will definitely check this one out.
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Never even heard of this, great you review smaller indies. Agree about Catherine Keener, first aware of her in Being John Malkovich.
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This one sounds interesting. And I LOVE Oliver Platt.
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I’m really partial to Keener. I feel she is so underrated. Always becomes her character and makes you sympathize with her one way or another.
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