Please Give is all about getting: getting old, getting zits,
getting a tan, getting laid, getting a facial, getting a
present, getting a boyfriend, getting cancer, getting guilt—and
yet no one in this film gets any satisfaction, except for the
fifteen year old girl who finally scores two-hundred dollar
jeans.  There is no real giving; the title is sheer irony. 
Giving is of two kinds—the potlatch variety, throwing away money
to enhance one’s status, or moral giving without self-interest. 
Please Give presents a study in acquisition, through an even
exchange between two parties.  One person must give up something
in order for the other to acquire this object of desire.  For
someone to win, someone has to lose.  For someone to live;
someone has to die.  The cast of characters is amusing and
depressing, normal and mediocre, drifting through life in a
decent neighborhood in New York City.  Writer Nicole Holofcener
gives her creations just enough redeeming features to make the
audience care about them.  Kate (Cath