The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is a small, carefully-crafted film from Rebecca Miller, who adapted her own novel. I couldn't help but feeling, though, that the novel was much more interesting, as the film seems sketchy and undeveloped. I still enjoyed it, though, mostly because I appreciated the underlying sense of humor that exists despite the sorrow and tragedy that occurs.

The title character, very nicely played by Robin Wright Penn, is the wife of a successful publisher who is many years her senior (Alan Arkin). After health problems, he and Penn have moved to a retirement community in Connecticut. Penn is only in her forties, though, and grows bored, as well as developing a problem sleepwalking. She develops an attraction towards the son of one of her neighbors, stoically played by Keanu Reeves.

Through all of this we see flashbacks to Pippa's life, beginning with her birth (she was covered with a fine layer of blonde hair). Her mother (Maria Bello), was addicted to speed, and as a teenager Pippa moves out of the house and ends up living a hard-partying lifestyle (she is played as a teen and young adult by Blake Lively). Eventually she meets Arkin, who takes her under his wing and eventually marries her, even though he is already married to a tempestuous Italian woman.

The film's novelistic structure doesn't always work, but it's a moderately interesting story, sold mostly by Penn's performance. There are a few problems in this, notably that simply putting hair on Alan Arkin does not make him seem younger, so his postcoital snuggle with Lively is pretty high on the ick factor. The writing is quite good, though, and Reeves is used effectively. There are also numerous famous names that pop up in small parts, such as Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci and Julianne Moore.