The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Reviews and Ratings


  • her69eyes
    December 3, 2009
    her69eyes
    Amongst the big late fall and winter releases is the quiet American release of "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee", an engaging drama with a terrific female-driven ensemble. Robin Wright Penn is the title character, and her work here could be considered a potential darkhorse for an ...( read more)Academy Award nomination. More significantly, this performance will hopefully be the catalyst for meatier roles to come from the underrated actress.

    Pippa, in her late 40s, is married to a man thirty years her senior, Herb (Alan Arkin). Herb's a publisher with severe health problems, and he reluctantly accepts Pippa as a caretaker when the couple moves into a nice Connecticut retirement community. The couple has two older children, Ben (Ryan McDonald) and Grace (Zoe Kazan), who witness their mother going through a sort of midlife crisis.

    As we're introduced to Pippa's current-day struggles, writer/director Rebecca Miller takes us back to her early years in order to grasp what has driven her. She (played as a teen by Blake Lively) was raised by a fiery, drug-addicted mother (Maria Bello, intense as ever), and eventually left home because of it. Her next household was her aunt's, but things take a surprising turn when she discovers that her aunt is a lesbian, and her girlfriend, Kat (Julianne Moore), is anxious to feature Pippa in an S&M photography session. Pippa, desperate for the attention, accepts the invitation with pleasure.

    To delve any further into the plot would spoil the pleasantries the film has to offer. The ensemble is well-balanced, allowing each character their revealing moments, and director Rebecca Miller doesn't intrude on the proceedings at all. This is partially to the film's detriment as it consistently feels low-key and small, but Miller is smart enough to keep the rather melodramatic narrative far from Lifetime material.

    "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" is a charming drama with a thoroughly likable cast. Keanu Reeves even shows up with - wait for it - an enormous tattoo of Jesus enveloping his chest. Miller, who adapted from her own novel, paces the material well and only cautiously succumbs to overly sentimental moments in the third act. You'll have to look for it, but "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" is well worth seeking out.
  • xobabygreekox
    December 2, 2009
    xobabygreekox
    Lovely story. Keanu is so cute and Blake Lively showed she's a good actress.
  • WCutter
    November 29, 2009
    WCutter
    Full of nuance and surprise. I felt that what some call conventional flashback was actually quite innovative, and added a remarkable dimension to the character as she appears in the present. The supporting actors served the movie brilliantly.
  • agentjade
    November 27, 2009
    agentjade
    Strangely unsettling and depressingly real. An interesting film with a good-looking cast. The scenes where Keanu Reeves just mopes around looking yummy take the boredom out of the slow moments. Something to watch on a slow evening.
  • sharond642
    November 26, 2009
    sharond642
    Show how the suffering of some people is repeated in certain families and often times hidden. Pippa suffered termoil in her childhood but eventually found someone who adored her and gave her a cozy little life or so she thought. I feel Pippa decided she would not damage her daugh...( read more)ter as she was damaged so in a way she won even though she lost much.
  • xanderboy
    November 24, 2009
    xanderboy
    Porté par des actrices pourtant fabuleuses, Blake Lively en tête, ce petit film utilise les codes usés du genre et peine véritablement à intéresser. La partie Présent notamment souffre d'apathie malgré la présence lumineuse de Robin Wright et la performance drôlissime de Winona R...( read more)yder.
  • rs4fun1
    November 21, 2009
    rs4fun1
    it's a story of a troubled girl her life led by series of misfortunes..

    veery nice movie... I liked it
  • jeypop
    November 18, 2009
    jeypop
    terrible movies of monica
  • Phonex
    November 18, 2009
    Phonex
    Pippa Lee is the perfect wife, adored by her husband and their friends. The perfect host, a wonderful, loving and accepting wife, and an always giving friend. However there's more to Pippa Lee than that, and what she's hidden for so long is starting to peek out the cracks as her ...( read more)perfect life and marriage begin to struggle.
    When her husband Herb decides to move them both to a retirement village she begins to struggle, and ever so slightly you see the cracks begin to appear, and as life goes on these cracks become larger and we begin to get glimpses of her past, and it's through the past and the changes in her present life, that we really understand who the real Pippa Lee is and what made her.
  • IfeellikeGregorSamsa
    November 16, 2009
    IfeellikeGregorSamsa
    I must say, even though it's not a fascination, I'm an admirer of Rebecca Miller's work. She's a bold filmmaker who doesn't fear to take on difficult themes, always demanding viewer's full attention, in exchange respecting one's intelligence. "The Private Live of Pippa Lee" may b...( read more)e her finest work to date - she gathered a wonderful cast, wrote a thought-provoking story, giving us a mature, contemplative piece of cinema, filled with laughter, sadness and pain, reflecting the life, as we experience it.

    Robin Wright Penn deserves much, much more praise than she's usually given, being somewhat in the shadow of her famous husband. Beautifully written character Pippa Lee must've been a dream come true for a grown up actress and Penn made the best of it!
  • JasonDennis91786
    November 12, 2009
    JasonDennis91786
    the synopsis seems to say the woman is justified to marry for money and then cheat on her husband just on a whim? because, you know, she's young and you shouldn't expect her to control herself?
  • gor41
    November 7, 2009
    gor41
    Showcase for mature female actors who must have leapt at the chance of the prime roles on offer here. Undoubtedly the role of Penn's distinguished career, she rises to the challenge of portraying a multilayered fully formed person with all the inconsistencies and peculiarities t...( read more)hat entails. Even Reeves is on form, as is often the case when he isn't center stage. Don't overlook this sleeper hit.
  • moikamiar
    November 7, 2009
    moikamiar
    A survey into the life of a sleepwalkin' woman from her childhood with a
  • janel41875
    November 2, 2009
    janel41875
    i look at it look good
  • jallyjay
    October 14, 2009
    jallyjay
    dramatic and funny in a way, but nice
  • CinemaPlanet
    October 12, 2009
    CinemaPlanet
    So-so dramatic fantasy of one woman's chaotic upbringing and adult life as wife, mother and lover.
  • jenn1984106
    October 7, 2009
    jenn1984106
    Flat out the most amazing cast EVER. Impossible to have a lousy movie when the acting is SO spectacular. Really recommend you check it out.
  • JeT0425
    September 15, 2009
    JeT0425
    Review coming soon (09/16/09).

    Seeing the premiere at Toronto International Film Festival.
  • jonnycrumley
    August 22, 2009
    jonnycrumley
    It looks interesting.
  • roisindubh73
    August 14, 2009
    roisindubh73
    good film shame it wasnt on longer at the cinema
  • michellefortuin
    August 3, 2009
    michellefortuin
    Interesting movie. The story is sometimes a little bit boring, but the acting is really great.
    I think The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee is a bit a sad movie, like for example French movies often are as well, and I don't like that very much. But that's just my opinion.
    It's not a ...( read more)masterpiece, but definitely a beautiful movie.
  • oreo2snickers
    July 16, 2009
    oreo2snickers
    i really was intrigued by this movie. It's a good film check it out!
  • davidmuhame
    July 10, 2009
    davidmuhame
    this is wonderfull movie
  • ahmedamin222
    July 7, 2009
    ahmedamin222
    ?????????????? ???? ?????
  • stevewyllie1
    July 6, 2009
    stevewyllie1
    a very good film,good cast,good story-just a little depressing at times,but on the whole a film worth watching.
  • kensetia
    May 27, 2009
    kensetia
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indramayu-Indonesia/FORUM-KOMUNIKASI-KORBAN-NII-AL-ZAYTUN/114902122288
  • nikkisunshine1
    May 25, 2009
    nikkisunshine1
    its looks like a good one lol
  • nikiomg
    May 25, 2009
    nikiomg
    I love the cast...Many good actors..
  • danieljparsons
    April 21, 2009
    danieljparsons
    Stunning cast = must see.

Summary

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Summary