Please Give (2010)

Directed and written by Nicole Holofcener.

A middle-aged couple who make a living buying and selling retro-chic furniture that they buy from the relatives of the elderly after their death become briefly involved with the granddaughters of their 91 year old neighbour. Their lives briefly intertwine before seperating again.

Nicole Holofcener's skill as a film maker is to create small ensemble pieces that are populated by characters who it is possible to believe actually exist in a world away from the cinema screen. In this she differs from many of the "mumblecore" writers and directors whose creations are either impossibly glamorous or who exist with no visible means of support in a milieu that they would be unable to sustain in real life.

Having learned her trade in television (Six Feet Under, The Gilmore Girls and Sex And The City all appear on her CV) she made her feature debut with Friends With Money (2006) - a warm and likeable comedy-drama noteable for giving Jennifer Aniston her best film role to date (by some comfortable distance).

Please Give is her follow-up to that film and once again it has a beating heart of humanity over which is played out the slight story of middle-aged, middle-class angst.

As with the earlier film Holofcener is helped considerably by the graceful presence in a leading role of Catherine Keener. Keener is one of the most talented and reliable actresses currently working in US cinema; she has a natural charisma that she brings to all of her parts which allows her to invest them with a likeable, natural air of "ordariness".

Of course the ability to portray the ordinary in a believable way on screen is itself an extraordinary talent.

The film has a small ensemble cast (no more than six of the main characters ever appear together at the same time) and while it has points to make and ideas to convey it never lectures or points fingers. The comedy is amiable and gentle and the drama element is delivered smoothly and without grand gestures.

Good use is made of the New York locations and the direction is direct, sharp and confident.

Ann Guilbert is the elderly next door neighbour, Rebecca Hall and Mary Peet her granddaughters; Oliver Platt plays Keener's husband and Sarah Steele their daughter.

A small but thoroughly enjoyable film.