The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Serene, ever-adaptable Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) is an accomplished hostess, proud mother of now-grown children, and devoted wife to her much older, successful New York publisher husband, Herb (Alan Arkin), who has barely survived three serious heart attacks. The couple settle into a new home in a staid, central Connecticut retirement community, where 50-year-old Pippa realizes that sublimating her own needs over the years has led to her becoming a desperate housewife. Helping her rediscover her lost self is 35-year-old Chris Nadeau (Keanu Reeves)--the alienated son of her friend and neighbor, Dot (Shirley Knight)--who works as the night clerk in a local convenience store and soon becomes Pippa's confidante and lover. Adapting her novel of the same name, writer/director Rebecca Miller (daughter of legendary playwright Arthur Miller and wife of actor Daniel Day-Lewis) adroitly drifts back and forth through time, delineating various vulnerable periods in Pippa's life while injecting some unexpected humor into this low-key, angst-filled melodrama that builds to a disappointingly predictable conclusion. As the titular heroine, Wright Penn remains unfortunately inscrutable, supported by a quirky ensemble cast that includes Zoe Kazan and Ryan McDonald as the Lees' children, Winona Ryder and Mike Binder as longtime friends, Blake Lively as young Pippa, Maria Bello as Pippa's pill-popping mother, Monica Belluci as Herb's first wife, and Julianne Moore as a lesbian S&M photographer. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary with costar Robin Wright and writer-director Rebecca Miller, and interviews with costars Blake Lively (3 min.), Wright (2 min.), and Alan Arkin (2 min.). Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)