Looks like an indie but acts like a phony : Please Give

"Please Give" is a thoroughly disappointing movie, which has all the indie earmarks that would be make you think it will be an endearing and thoughtful ensemble piece - talented writer-director (N. Holofcener?) who did the really influential and appealing Lovely & Amazing some years back and a very strong cast including Catherine Keener (Holofcener started her career, in essence), Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, and the surprisingly good in an evil role Amanda Peet. It purports to be one of these simple movies of a few ordinary people and their intersecting lives, much like L&A. this time set in NYC, which is the first of many way-wrong notes. Keener & Platt run a little business buying furniture from the deceased, basically swooping in ahead of more formal estate sales - buying what the relatives see as junk and selling it at markup in a vintage store. The store itself looks not much better than a Salvation Army, and yet: these guys are living on, get this!, Fifth Avenue and are waiting to buy the apartment of their elderly nieghbor so that they can break through and double their space? On what planet do they live? This total lack of understanding of basic finances is a tipoff to the cluelessness of the whole movie, which on the one hand tries to convey the message that materialism doesn't matter, life is all about relationships, and on the other hand ends with a happy moment as Keener and Platt get the new apartment and make light of it, they buy their daughter the pair of designer jeans she's always desired, everyone's happy. Never mind that Platt just had a preposterously unlikely affair with Peet, that Peet is still nasty and heading dangerously toward alcoholism - these issues are brushed aside. Not that we need a happy ending - in fact, the highlight of the film is the eldery neighbor and her acerbic remarks about everyone and everything (How's the cake, Grandma? It's dry.). I like this kind of movie, but just because it looks like an indie doesn't make it any more honest that a phony Hollywood studio concoction. To work, an ensemble movie has to be honest and knowing about characters and their environment, and this movie is clueless.