The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Rebecca Miller

Writers (WGA):

Rebecca Miller (screenplay)
Rebecca Miller (book)

Release Date:

10 July 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The life you love may be your own.

Plot:

After her much older husband forces a move to a suburban retirement community, Pippa Lee engages in a period of reflection and finds herself heading toward a quiet nervous breakdown.

Plot Keywords:

Older Husband | Publisher | Neighbor | Mental Illness | Cheating Husband

Cast

Robin Wright Penn	...	Pippa Lee
Mike Binder	...	Sam Shapiro
Alan Arkin	...	Herb Lee
Winona Ryder	...	Sandra Dulles
Ryan McDonald	...	Ben Lee
Cornelius West	...	Don Sexton
Maria Bello	...	Suky Sarkissian
Arnie Burton	...	Doctor
Tim Guinee	...	Des Sarkissian
Drew Beasley	...	Chester Sarkissian - Age 6
Madeline McNulty	...	Young Pippa - Age 7
Beckett Melville	...	Chester Sarkissian - Age 13
Zoe Kazan	...	Grace Lee
Billy Wheelan	...	Waiter
Shirley Knight	...	Dot Nadeau

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, brief nudity, some drug material and language.

Runtime:

Germany:93 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | USA:R (certificate #45320) | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:16

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Elevation Filmworks

Trivia:

Maggie Gyllenhaal was considered for the role of Suky, but dropped out due scheduling conflicts and Maria Bello replaced her.

Maria Bello and Blake Lively are the Stand-Outs!!!!

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee has a few moments but really what is left is a pretty forgettable film.

The best aspect are the performances of some the actors but even then the film compounds its problems.

Pippa Lee is played by Robin Wright Penn as a dizzy, hapless blond, detached from the world around her. This is convincing until the flashbacks introduce us to the performance of Blake Lively playing the younger Pippa. Blake Lively plays her part with more pronounced character and it is easier to understand and empathise with her. In fact her performance is so likable and intuitive that it hacks away at the performance by Penn in the later incarnation. Blake Lively is a very talented actor.

The other outstanding performance and the best in the film by a long shot is by Maria Bello as Pippa's drug addicted mother. Maria Bello has proved her superb acting skills before and she is someone that needs to be given more important and challenging roles. For instance, I would have loved to have seen her play the female lead in "Antichrist" (2009) opposite William Dafoe as I think she could have possibly saved that film. Charlotte Gainsbourg is an utterly useless actor.

Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder all perform adequately but Arkin in particular is hard to take in his faux looking wig. Julianne Moore makes a short appearance and seems to revel in the part.

All in all the movie is watchable but nothing memorable.