The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Image

As the title suggests, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is a curious, comprehensive unveiling of woman’s personal history. Writer/filmmaker Rebecca Miller has adapted her own novel: stepping behind the “icon of an artist’s wife,” to bring some incisive, unvarnished truths to the screen. Working with an illustrious ensemble cast, the unfurling of Pippa Lee’s (Robin Wright Penn) life is conveyed through her relationships with her manic-depressive mother (Maria Bello), her publishing magnate husband Herb (Alan Arkin), his ex-wife (Monica Belluci) and her younger, wild-child self (Blake Lively).


Indeed the plurality of stories – and personalities – assembled in this film are the source of both its strength and its shortcomings. Moving backwards and forwards through time, and aided by a Wright Penn’s narration, Miller’s story essentially traverses the generational impact of the mother and daughter relationship. The 50 something Pippa is the epitome of docile, bubbly, wifely perfection, and yet the audience is soon introduced to the madness of her pill-popping mother, and the strained relationship she has with her own daughter (Zoe Kazan). The reality behind Pippa’s “adaptable enigma” is fascinating, but unfortunately Miller mediates this with the arrival of sexy stranger Chris (Keanu Reaves).

This lost souls, kindred spirits storyline detracts from the heart of the film. Would Miller have stayed with what it is to be a mother and a wife (caring for an aged man in a motherly fashion), than straying into this unnecessary dalliance. Fortunately, however Wright Penn makes even this misstep work to augment her outstanding performance. Usually understated, and often sullen, Wright Penn here reinvents the Stepford wife with a fascinating frisson of anxiety rippling below the surface. Her remarkable performance is well matched with Gossip Girls’ Lively bringing a refreshing maturity to Pippa as the little girl lost, and is further aided by brilliant cameos from Winona Ryder and Julianne Moore.

Much like her husband, Daniel Day Lewis, Miller is an ambitious storyteller. Rachel Getting Married cinematographer Declan Quinn well captures her precise visual aesthetic, while Miller was able to bring her novel to life with wonderful and oftentimes surprising performances. So despite the fact that the film doesn’t quite live up to the expectations of its stellar cast, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee has enough fascinating, enlightening moments to capture your attention.


3 Stars

Image

Published in The Brag.
Australian release date (limited): 22 October 2009