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'Pippa Lee' is justperfect for Robin Wright
Updated 11/26/2009 5:48 PM | Review  | RecommendE-mail | Print | Reprints & Permissions |

 EnlargeScreen Media Films

An Oscar- worthy turn: Keanu Reevesalsostars in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, but it's Robin Wrightwho drives this comedy/drama.


 ABOUT THE MOVIE

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
* * * (out of four)
Stars: Robin Wright, Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves, Maria Bello, Monica Bellucci, Blake Lively, Winona Ryder
Director: Rebecca Miller
Distributor: Screen Media Films
Rating: R forsexual content,brief nudity, some drugmaterial andlanguage
Runningtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Opens Friday inselectcities


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By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Every once in awhile, a multidimensional role comes along that seems tailor-made for anactor.
It happens less often foractresses,particularly those over 40 –whichmakes The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,featuring an Oscar-worthy turn by Robin Wright, a truly happy surprise.

INTERVIEW: Wright keepsfocus on her work, not her divorce
Wright gives the titlecharacter acomplexity andemotional shading oftenmissing in this kind ofensemble comedy/drama. Pippahas the feel of aheroine inliterature, rather than on thebigscreen.

Pippa, 50, is the seemingly serene wife of successfulpublisher Herb Lee (Alan Arkin),who is 30 years her senior. She seems tohave it all: a goodmarriage, successful twentysomething children, wealth, goodlooks andglowing health.

Sheeven weathers amove with her husband to asleepy retirement community,his "pre-emptivestrikeagainstdecrepitude." But thingsslowly start to unravel, and the tumultuouspastshe tried to ignore comes back to haunt her.

It sounds likestandardchickflick/Lifetime movie stuff, butbecause of thestrong cast and a few surprising twists, it rises aboveexpectations for thegenre. While the plot can be a bit episodic andhas awhiff ofthe familiar, thepsychologically astute dialogue bywriter/director Rebecca Miller (The Ballad of Jack and Rose)rings true.

Keanu Reeveshas anappealing,low-key turn as thelost-soul son of Pippa's neighbor, and Blake Livelydoes a nice job as the young and wilder Pippa. But the bestperformance,next to the nuanced andevocative portrait painted by Wright, is that of Maria Bello. She plays young Pippa'scharismatic butdeeplydiet-pill-addictedmother. It's aparticularlyfearlessperformance.

As themystery of Pippa'scharacter unfolds, her comfortable worldtopples around her. Butshehas thegrace and wisdom tosway with it.


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