6-3-10 TIE: "Please Give" and "Mother and Child" Named Film of the Week

The Phoenix Favorite Film for the week ending June 4, 2010 as voted by the Phoenix Film Critics Society with a score of 8.0 out of 10.

Tie this week!

Please Give

Kate has a lot on her mind. There's the ethics problem of buying furniture on the cheap at estate sales and marking it up at her trendy Manhattan store. And how much markup can she get away with? There's the materialism problem of not wanting her teenage daughter to want the expensive things that Kate wants. There's the marriage problem of sharing a partnership in parenting, business, and life with her husband Alex but sensing doubt nibbling at the foundations. And there's Kate's free-floating 21st century malaise - the problem of how to live well and be a good person when poverty, homelessness, and sadness are always right outside the door. Plus, there's the neighbors: cranky, elderly Andra and the two granddaughters who look after her.

Mother and Child

Three women's lives share a common core: they have all been profoundly affected by adoption. Karen had a baby at 14, gave her up at birth, and has been haunted ever since by the daughter she never knew. Elizabeth grew up as an adopted child; she's a bright and ambitious lawyer, but a flinty loner in her personal life. Lucy is just embarking with her husband on the adoption odyssey, looking for a baby to become their own.

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