Please Give

When we're too caught up in money and appearance, it's easy for us to become self-absorbed, especially when it's so easy to rationalize our way out of caring. Kate (Catherine Keener) represents a whole generation of mid-40's upper-middle-class women. She's reached a place in her life where she's reasonably comfortable: if she wants $200 jeans, she can buy them. Her money comes from a profitable furniture store she owns in New York City with her husband Alex (Oliver Platt), packed with rare vintage pieces and kitschy knick knacks that manhattanites love. The store is legal,  but is it ethical? They don't have a supplier for their furniture per se, and when their customers ask where the stuff comes from they don't get a straight answer. That's because the furniture is from deceased people. Whenever an elderly person dies, Kate and Alex are on the scene, there to negotiate with the grieving family over the soon-to-be-reupholstered furniture, which they will turn around and sell for a sizable profit. And if it turns out something is actually worth a lot, they won't tell the family.

This film is about finding integrity. Kate is starting to feel very guilty about the business. Her husband, on the other hand, is a big jolly lug who doesn't think twice about it. He's more concerned about "hitting the wall", a theoretical timeframe in one's life when their looks start heading down hill. He, like Abby (Sarah Steele), their teenage daughter, doesn't think much about leaving a positive footprint on the world. Abby, is consumed with typical teenage worries, e.g. pimples and clothes. When Kate attempts to give a homeless man twenty dollars, Abby accuses her of trying to save the world and snaps it out of her hands.

Next door, lives Andra (Ann Guilbert), a 90 year old shrew. As soon as Andra passes away, Kate and Alex plan to knock down the walls and conjoin the two apartments. They joke about smothering Andra so they can start construction immediately. Can you tell they're from New York?

Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is Andra's granddaughter. She takes care of Andra. But it's not without detriment to her social life. She tries online dating without success; she's tall, pale, and homely, and her job is administering mammograms--not exactly an ideal job, unless your a 14 year-old boy.

Feeling ever more like an ambulance chaser, Kate tries to volunteer at a retirement home. But when she sees an old woman hunched over, it makes her depressed. She tries a facility for the mentally challenged, but she cries when a boy hands her a basketball and tells her to shoot. She's too delicate.

When Andra finally dies, Rebecca knocks on Kate's door to let her know the furniture is available. (Incidentally, prior to this, Kate, had been crying because she realized she is a bad person). Rebecca doesn't cry when her grandmother dies. She's resilient. She has sacrificed everything for her grandmother and it's made her strong. She is who Kate wants to be.

Some of us don't make a difference in the world because we're so wound up in our own lives. Some of us give everything we have to the world. Some of us just don't know how to give even if we could. In the end, sometimes all it takes is having sympathy for the people around you. This is the excellent story of how different people hold themselves responsible for the world around them and how the people we meet change our lives.

Stars: 4/5