Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Please Give

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for language, some sexual content and nudity.

Reviewed by: Steve Warburton
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Drama Comedy
Length: 1 hr. 30 min.
Year of Release: 2010
USA Release: January 22, 2010 (festival)
April 30, 2010
DVD: October 19, 2010
Copyright, Sony Pictures Classicsclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics
Sexual sin

Adultery in the Bible

Should I save sex for marriage? Answer

How can I deal with temptations? Answer

What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer

Sex, Love & Relationships
Learn how to make your love the best it can be. Christian answers to questions about sex, marriage, sexual addictions, and more. Valuable resources for Christian couples, singles and pastors.
Poverty and charity

POVERTY—What does the Bible say about the poor? Answer

Poor in the Bible / Charity / Mercy / Goodness / Goodness of God

Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer

What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer

Does God feel our pain? Answer

ORIGIN OF BAD—How did bad things come about? Answer


Is Jesus Christ the answer to your questions?
Discover the good news that Jesus Christ offers
Featuring Rebecca Hall (Rebecca), Elizabeth Keener (Cathy), Elise Ivy (Marissa), Catherine Keener (Kate), Josh Pais (Adam), Sarah Steele (Abby), Ann Morgan Guilbert (Andra), Amanda Peet (Mary), Oliver Platt (Alex), See all »
Director Nicole Holofcener
Producer Sony Pictures Classics, Likely Story, Feelin' Guilty, Stefanie Azpiazu, Anthony Bregman, Caroline Jaczko
Distributor
Distributor: Sony Pictures. Trademark logo.
Sony Pictures Classics
, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment

Bear with me. It’s been a while since I saw “Please Give.” I probably shouldn’t be writing this review. Bad me!!!

Tell ya what: I’ll just start off by telling you the most offensive thing about “Please Give.” A married man has an affair. He never tells his wife about it, either. I hope that wasn’t a spoiler.

I actually cringed when the guy was initiating the affair. Why? Because I liked him. I liked him and his wife. They are decent people who are forced to be macabre in their professional and personal lives. They work as antique dealers. They get their stuff by buying up the estates of the recently deceased. Then they mark the items up and sell them at their store. How would you like a career like that? “Dear God, please make lots of people die today so that I can eat.” Good grief.

The couple, along with their teenaged daughter, live in an apartment. Next door is a selfish old lady who won’t leave. The antique-dealing couple is actually hoping the lady will die soon, so they can buy her apartment and make a larger living space. There’s another ethical quagmire to live through: Needing someone to die so you can progress in life.

I’m a Christian, and that means that I see things in black and white. Abortion: Murder. Gay marriage: Abomination. So I kinda like it when a movie can make me see things in shades of gray. In this case, I don’t know if the couple is being selfish or not. I mean, I hate the guy for cheating on his wife, but the wife is a lovable sort. She’s the kind of woman who hands $20 bills to homeless people on the street.

POVERTY—What does the Bible say about the poor? Answer

Her daughter even tells an embarrassing story about what happened when she allowed a homeless woman to come into her apartment to take a shower. I probably can’t share that story here because this is, after all, a Christian movie review site.

I’ll just say that “Please Give” has some profanity, but, at least, it’s not forced. It’s real.

The movie is real, in fact. It shows people trying to make sense of the ethical dilemmas that greet us all in everyday life.

For this Christian moviegoer, one thought keeps popping up in my mind whenever I go to the cinema. It is this: “I wonder what choices these characters would make if they worshiped Jesus.”

Violence: None / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

Paradise or Pain? Why is the world the way it is? Why is the world the way it is? If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and loving, would He really create a world like this? (filled with oppression, suffering, death and cruelty) Answer

Click here to watch THE HOPE on-line! Discover God’s promise for all people—told beautifully and clearly from the beginning. Discover The HOPE! Watch it on Christian Answers—full-length motion picture.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive

none

Negative
Negative—The reviewer is correct in that this movie is real and that it shows people trying to make sense of the ethical dilemmas of everyday life. This movie does not have the typical story line, but, instead, just shows the lives of different New York city residents over a several month period. Because none of these characters appear to be Christians, the movie can at some times seem depressing and feel somewhat hopeless. If you are looking for a realistic snapshot of life today in NYC, you may enjoy this film, but, for me, it was not worth spending the money. The reason for the “R” rating is that there is nudity at the beginning (one character is a breast exam technician), there are three adultery-sex scenes (with no nudity), the “F” word is used regularly, as is the Lord’s name in vain.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Craig, age 43 (USA)