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:

She lived many lives - except her 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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Vida Íntima de Pippa Lee

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

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

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 Robert Byrd
Performed by Bobby Day
Courtesy of Lynn Adajian
By Arrangement with Ace Music Services LLC

User Reviews

Vehicle for Alan Arkin and eye candy for film students

I attended the North American Premiere of "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller from her own book, this is the complex, multi-layered life story of a woman trying to survive her checkered past. Its stellar cast makes this film a joy -- Robin Wright Penn is extraordinary as the titular character, while Keanu Reeves, Blake Lively, and Winona Ryder truly shine in supporting roles. But "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" is, most of all, a vehicle for the legendary Alan Arkin as Pippa's husband Herb Lee. He's at his best yet.

The script is about 5/50 drama and comedy so it's hard to pin it down either way. But that's what real life is, isn't it? The art and costume direction are superb with great care taken to ensure that each of Pippa Lee's "lives" has its own unique color palette and sets to match. Keeping it all together is a wonderful recurring musical theme and sweet score. There are a number of clever transitions between sets and time periods which were not done with computers but "in-camera." As an aficionado of the craft of film-making, these set tricks blew me away.