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Critics Consensus: Reverential and offbeat, the road trip film Private lives of Pippa Lee takes emotional detours and is elevated by great performances, particularly that of Robin Wright-Penn.
Critic Consensus: Reverential and offbeat, the road trip film Private lives of Pippa Lee takes emotional detours and is elevated by great performances, particularly that of Robin Wright-Penn.
All Critics (75) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (24)
As a woman under the influence of everyone but herself, Pippa often feels lost when she's on her own - a blank slate with no one holding a chalk - Robin Wright Penn allows us to get to know a character who still doesn't really know herself.
There's a deliberate quality to the storytelling that makes the movie drag in many scenes; and yet, numerous characters flit by that we don't have time to really meet.
The movie has the busy-aimless feeling of a cocktail party rather than a rigorously constructed drama. Interesting people drift through, anecdotes are shared, attention shifts here and there, and abruptly it's time to go.
A superb performance by Robin Wright Penn illuminates Rebecca Miller's intelligent and revealing look at the inner wild child beneath a 50-ish Connecticut matron.
Awkward in ways both intended and not.
By turns antic, frantic, and dull, Pippa Lee is unconvincing -- emotionally, dramatically, filmically.
A feel-good film, both disconcerting and rewarding on all fronts.
... for once in a [Rebecca] Miller film, the chuckles are generally intentional ...
Penn is such an intelligent performer that it's easy for us to believe everyone else in the film sees a different side -- a different life -- of the enigmatic Pippa Lee -- and that there are still many other sides to this fascinating character...
Robin Wright Penn gives an award-caliber performance in the title role of a woman trying to find her place in the scheme of things after moving with her older husband to a retirement village in suburban Connecticut.
All the midnight bulimic binges, suicide attempts, sleepwalking, marital chicanery, and little pills don't mean a thing compared to the thrill of being a middle-aged woman sneaking through the bedroom window like a teenager in heat.
Just as The Twilight Saga: New Moon taps into to the sexual yearnings and psychic disturbances of pubescent girls, so does The Private Lives of Pippa Lee for the perimenopausal crowd.
Very good movie which, I have to admit, I sat there bored through for the first 40 minutes. It was only when it got to the scene with the first wife that I started to understand the events that had shaped this dull-on-the- surface married woman. Blake Lively is excellent as the younger Pippa, as is Robin Wright as the older one. I really wished I had paid more attention by the end, I think this one deserves a rewatch and is the kind of movie that will grow on you as you find yourself thinking of it the next day. Subtle, but beautifully done.
Super Reviewer
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee works as an involving high-end soap, the strong performances, writing and fractured chronology easing us past the more melodramatic twists. Robin Wright performs naturally and makes her character hold more depth and presence then was imaginable. And Blake Lively performs her part so beautifully. Believe me about Winona Ryder's character does remind me and looked familiar to her 1999's Girl, Interrupted character role - so impressive!
Loved the process... very interesting storyline and great acting from everyone.
It was kinda good not a great movie but made it worth the while. What most interested me was how it was gonna end been such a unknown movie for me. Acting was decent from everyone except Robin Wright, she really took it up a notch and delivered big time on her role as Pippa Lee. The film stars Robin Wright Penn, as Pippa Lee, and Allan Arkin as her husband Herb Lee. The plot revolves around Pippas emotional issues that lead her toward an affair with Chris Nadeau (Keanu Reeves). Herb has also grown tired of the relationship, and is having heart problems. In an interesting twist the plot flashes back to a younger Pippa played by Blake Lively, that gets spanked by a dominatrix named Kit (Julianne Moore). Pippa is involved in lesbian bondage films before having a torrid love affair with Herb, who helps her to get her life together. There is also a rather dramatic scene where Gigi Lee (Monica Bellucci) points a gun at Pippa, and then ends up committing suicide. The scene is somewhat similar to the gun scene in Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona where Penelope Cruz goes into a violent rage. Pippa Lee features outstanding performances by Robin Wright Penn, Allan Arkin, and Blake Lively. The film is well written and directed by Rebecca Miller. Pippa Lee is a really good indie film that most Robin Wright Penn, and Blake Lively fans will enjoy.
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