please give...me some of your time

I have been very bad recently! This is my first post in far too long and I heartily apologise. To try and explain I have been pretty busy, still doing two jobs and the world cup has started (essential viewing for all!) and I've had some recent money issues, so it was this week I decided to get back on track and chose a lazy, sunny Monday afternoon to go and see Please Give, new indie comedy from writer/director Nicole Holofcener. Interesting to note at this point I was the only person in the cinema, so anyone who doesn't love noisy popcorn crunching audiences I recommend this time slot to be ideal!
Now on to the film. It follows two families. The first consisting of Kate and Alex and their 15 year old daughter Abby. They have the very morally noble livelihood of buying furniture from the children of the deceased cheap and selling for a huge price in their hip little vintage furniture shop. Nice. The second group is headed by shy but worthy Rebecca, who administers mammograms to frail old ladies. She also visits her dying grandmother, who lives next door to our first family (who have purchased the decrepit woman's apartment and are waiting for her death...even nicer) Rebecca has a sister, Mary, who while being addicted to tanning is one of the best played bitches I have seen on screen for a long time (credit to Amanda Peet) The lives of these two clusters becomes linked as the film progresses as they all try and battle with their own moral dilemmas. Kate is guilty about her career and feels compelled to hand out cash to every homeless person she sees, even if it turns out they're not homeless but waiting to be seated in a busy restaurant (a particular highlight) she is also dealing with a teenage daughter, skin and weight tantrums to follow . Her husband Alex also begins an affair with the charming Mary on the chair of her facial administration room, well it's clean at least? And poor Rebecca is struggling to cope with her ageing, and very blunt, grandmother's demanding ways.
The razor sharp script is certainly the most prominent feature of this film, and some moments feel like early an Woody Allen. Initially I thought this was just going to be a typical cynical black comedy. And the first third of the film does feel a bit like this, the relationships seem too clichéd, especially between mother and daughter. But just give these character time to grow and they suddenly become three dimensional. This is when the real humour of the piece comes out, and I can assure you laughing in an empty cinema is quite a surreal experience! But as I said this certainly is a dark comedy which really gets at the crux of some issues which face society, that of charity. How much should people give? Should we all feel guilty about how much we consume when others have so little? These are some of the questions which Kate battles with. Excellent acting is also seem by almost every member of the cast from Rebecca Hall playing her namesake with another flawless American accent to Catherine Keener as guilt ridden Kate. Also to be given special mention is Ann Guilbert as the elderly grandma, who's blunt tongue provide some of the funniest moments in the film. All these are signs of some first class Directing from Ms Holofcener, who I will certainly be looking out for in the future.
I would recommend this film to anyone who is looking for some laughs with a brain behind them and is prepared to actually think during a film and perhaps question some of our own actions as a result. So I will reward this with a fully deserved 8/10. And I will be sure not to leave things so long next week!!