Nicole Holofcener’s films are always smart, adroitly acted and … forgettable come awards season.
Movies like “Lovely & Amazing,” “Friends with Money” and “Walking and Talking” traffic in similar dramatic circles, with the great Catherine Keener on hand to provide a feminine anchor.
The director’s films rarely rise to Oscar level, content to document middle class malaise.
Holofcener’s “Please Give,” now available on DVD and Blu-ray, finds the director plumbing more profound territory. Buoyed by another sterling cast, the writer/director has delivered her finest film yet.
Keener plays Kate, a furniture shop owner whose store is filled with merchandise from the recently deceased. Pouncing on mourning families for a quick buck hasn’t bothered Kate or her cherubic hubby Alex (Oliver Platt), but lately Kate is having second thoughts about profiting from the dead. It doesn’t help that Kate’s daughter (Sarah Steele) craves a $200 pair of jeans, reminding Kate of where her tainted money goes.
When the family invites sisters Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) and Mary (Amanda Peet) over for dinner it rattles Kate’s precarious mental state. Alex and Mary start an unlikely affair – their first kiss happens while Mary is giving Alex a facial. And the sisters’ crotchety Grandma (scene stealer Ann Guilbert) puts a human face on Kate’s business.
Suddenly, Kate starts reaching out to homeless people in her neighborhood and tries to give time to any charity that will have her. But she’s hardly in shape to give of herself, what with her moral compass out of whack.
Like most of Holofcener’s films, the actual plot is hardly a reason to spend two hours with her characters. But her voice has never been sharper, her ability to show outwardly successful types rarely so unflinching.
Alex flirts with Mary by talking about “The Howard Stern Show,” the two sharing tidbits from the show like naughty secrets passed around in Algebra class. Platt too often goes for broad, clownish roles, but he’s at his best playing the Everyman with a secret.
Holofcenter finds unexpected truths in Kate’s search for charity, all the while we watch these flawed characters grow in small but wonderful ways.
“Please Give” finds Holofcener graduating to a new level of filmmaking, one which should be rewarded with some deserving Oscar buzz.
(Photo: Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt play a married couple going through serious changes in “Please Give.” Sony Pictures Classics)
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