The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Rebecca Miller's 2009 film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is based on the director's own novel but in its chronological sweep and emotional specificity it feels like something Ann Beattie or Alice Hoffman might have written. Pippa (played as an adult by Robin Wright) has recently moved to a retirement community with her older husband Herb (Alan Arkin), a successful book editor. An opening dinner table scene sets up the marital dynamic: Herb is a good man but selfish, used to being the center of attention and being doted on by friends like Sandra Dulles (a funny Winona Ryder). Pippa plays the role of the dutiful wife and hostess, but as she says in a voice-over, "I want to be known." From that point the film folds in on itself, flashing back to the relationship of young Pippa (Blake Lively in a performance that should quiet some haters) with her mother (Maria Bello) and Pippa's subsequent leaving home. In the present, Pippa deals with Herb's growing dissatisfaction with his retirement and strikes up a friendship with the eccentric son (Keanu Reeves, unusually loose and engaged) of a neighbor. Blake Lively makes Pippa's need for attention and experience the spine of the movie, especially in a surprising scene where Pippa becomes part of the artistic work of the girlfriend (Julianne Moore) of her lesbian aunt (Robin Weigert). It's easy to see how the character Lively plays turns in to Robin Wright, whose growing turmoil is skillfully underplayed. The ending isn't a surprise but is well brought off, including a reconciliation scene between Pippa and her photojournalist daughter (Zoe Kazan). Though The Private Lives of Pippa Lee will rankle some with its focus on the unhappy privileged the film is open-hearted enough to make Pippa's departure down an open road feel like a beginning and not an tidy last shot.