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Dir. Rebecca Miller, US, 2009, 93 mins
Cast: Robin Wright Penn, Keanu Reeves, Julianne Moore, Alan Arkin, Blake Lively, Winona Ryder, Maria Bello
Review by Joyce Dundas
This is the tale of a beautiful woman married to a much older, successful publisher (Arkin) and she seems pretty happy, thank you very much. However, when she is taken out of her comfort zone after he has successive heart attacks and moves to a retirement village, she starts to have a 'very quiet breakdown'.
She finds herself sleepwalking, taking up with Chris (Reeves), a dubious love interest, and starts to unravel as we see all the Pippa Lees she has been, begin to unfold.
In a series flashbacks we see the young Pippa (Lively) in a completely different light. She is full of life, a wild child saddled with a drug-addicted mother (the wonderful Bello). When she escapes her mother's home to go live with her aunt her adventures include being encouraged to take part in lesbian sado-masochistic photoshoots by her aunt's lover (Moore). You can see why she has grown to prefer sophisticated dinner parties with her smart husband. However, you know she has unfinished business with her mother. And we could have done without the sight of Arkin and Lively's early romantic liaisons.
The blossoming romance between Pippa and Chris is entertaining but they don't share enough screen time together and Reeves is extremely wooden as the romantic lead.
As you would expect from Rebecca Miller the dialogue in this quiet, oddball drama is sparkling and witty. The writer has adapted her own novel for the big screen and makes a good go of it, but it could have had a more distinctive visual style. It's difficult not to think Miller might be better served in writing for theatre. That said this film does show a lot more commercial savvy than her last film The Ballad of Jack and Rose. It also has a satisfying payoff. The cast alone should bring in several audiences and the film will do well on DVD release.
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