The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)

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 | Neighbor | Publisher | Posing For Portrait | Smoking

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:

98 min | Germany:93 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45320) | Netherlands:12 | Ireland:16 | Japan:PG12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Singapore:M18

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.

Assured, intelligent domestic drama with some nice surprises

Robin Wright Penn is uncannily reminiscent of Julie Christie in Away From Her from a couple of years ago, while the tone, topic and structure of these two assured quiet domestic dramas also have much in common. The character changes and revelations in this film stretch credibility rather more, partly because there are more of them thrown into the melting pot and not enough time to get to know some of the characters as I would have liked to. I disagree however with the comment on Keanu Reeve's performance. I thought he was excellent, as indeed were all these quality actors, though there wasn't enough of Winona Ryder to make her role entirely convincing. In a film of this nature the dialogue is the make or break factor. What people say to each other must be interesting yet credible, and this is absolutely the case in the relationships portrayed here. Altogether an absorbing, intelligent film, with some highly satisfactory twists and surprises.