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 | |
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Arnie Burton | ... | Doctor |
Tim Guinee | ... | Des Sarkissian | |
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Drew Beasley | ... | Chester Sarkissian, 6 |
Madeline McNulty | ... | Young Pippa, 7 | |
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Beckett Melville | ... | Chester Sarkissian, 13 |
Zoe Kazan | ... | Grace Lee | |
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Billy Wheelan | ... | Waiter |
Shirley Knight | ... | Dot Nadeau |
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? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I was expecting this film to follow yet another "troubled housewife that pretends to be content" storyline, and it kind of does. But it plays it out in such an interesting and original manner. Nothing goes as expected, and all of the actors play their parts brilliantly. Blake Lively performs her part so beautifully that it is easy to see she will soon break out of the "Gossip Girl" personality that is so often pinned on her. Keanu Reeves is excellent in his role as well, and Maria Bello, Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder, and Alan Arkin show that they are still excellent actors and will continue thriving. But it is really Robin Wright Penn that steals the show in Pippa Lee. She performs naturally and makes her character hold more depth and presence then was imaginable. Only problem I found was the transition between the young Pippa Lee and the older one. I never quite understood how the young became the old, because of the huge differences between the actresses' roles. How did the young Pippa really become the older Pippa? No explanations offered were quite satisfying.
But altogether, this was a fantastic film and I recommend it for everyone with 93 minutes to spare to go see it immediately.