The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)

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.

Director:

Rebecca Miller

Writers:

Rebecca Miller (screenplay), Rebecca Miller (book)

Stars:

Robin Wright, Alan Arkin, Mike Binder

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Wright	...	Pippa Lee (as Robin Wright Penn)
Mike Binder	...	Sam Shapiro
Alan Arkin	...	Herb Lee
Winona Ryder	...	Sandra Dulles
Ryan McDonald	...	Ben Lee
Cornel West	...	Don Sexton
Maria Bello	...	Suky Sarkissian
Arnie Burton	...	Doctor
Tim Guinee	...	Des Sarkissian
Drew Beasley	...	Chester Sarkissian, 6
Madeline McNulty	...	Young Pippa, 7
Beckett Melville	...	Chester Sarkissian, 13
Zoe Kazan	...	Grace Lee
Billy Wheelan	...	Waiter
Shirley Knight	...	Dot Nadeau

Storyline

Pippa Lee feels dislocated when she and her husband Herb move from Manhattan to a retirement community. He's older than she, they have two children who are young adults, and the daughter hardly speaks to Pippa. Pippa tells us about her life, in long flashbacks, starting with her birth to a mom who was a social dynamo and addicted to pills. As a teen, Pippa moves out and lives a hippie life until meeting Herb, who was then married to a young siren. Pippa discloses tragedies and discoveries. In the present, she's sleepwalking at night and talking from time to time with a burned-out case, the 35-year-old son of a neighbor. Can Pippa connect?

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Plot Keywords:

retirement | older man younger woman relationship | sleepwalking | moodiness | voice over narration | 

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Taglines:

The life you love may be your own.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julianne Moore only spent two days filming her role.

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Quotes

Pippa Lee: [after leaving hospital where her adulterous husband who wanted a divorce has been declared brain-dead, she is sitting in bed with Chris, eating french fries after having climbed through his window] So... it's official, nobody needs me anymore.

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Connections

Referenced in Biography: Winona Ryder (2008)

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Soundtracks

Little Turtle Dove
Written by Bobby Day (as Robert Byrd)
Performed by Bobby Day
Courtesy of Lynn Adajian
By Arrangement with Ace Music Services LLC

User Reviews

The two lives of Pippa Lee

More and more, Hollywood is checking out the state of those born in the 50s. The former hippies, with their libertarian ways of life, and what happened to them after the backlash. Why are they nowadays so strangely conservative? What made them become like that?

This is an intelligent version of the theme. Many under-texts show us Pippa Lee as the disastrous teenager and young woman, heading into this relationship with this old man, who pretends to see her, but much more sees himself and his sophisticated needs.

Good acting, good thoughts, unforeseeable feelings, but no real answer to the backlash question.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$89,950, 29 November 2009

Gross USA:

$337,356

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,860,973

Company Credits

Production Co:

Grand Army Entertainment, IM Global, Lumina Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1