The not-so-private review of Pippa Lee

My friend and I watched The Private Lives of Pippa Lee today, not by choice but out of compulsion to watch something. It is quite astounding, when you think about it, to believe that the choices on display were so criminally bad. I hate the post-blockbuster season lull because even when one wills herself to dress up, take the train and go to the cinema they are presented with ridiculously limited choices.



Anyway, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (based on a screenplay by the same name), referred to only as Pippa Lee from henceforth, was an interesting experience. First of all, the seats justified the $10 a piece tickets we bought. The film; not so satisfying but there were some interesting bits that managed to hold onto my attention for the duration.

The film revolves around the lead female cast, named, pointedly obvious, Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn). Through a series of flashbacks, the audience is privy to Pippa’s past, from the time of her birth to the moment she met Herb Lee (Alan Arkin), her current husband and a successful publisher; who happens to be 30 years senior.

The couple have two kids; an adventurous daughter who is a photo journalist, chronicling events unfolding in Baghdad. The son is studying to be a lawyer at the time he is introduced to the audience. After Herb suffers two consecutive heart attacks, the family is forced to move from their upscale Manhattan lifestyle into the quaint droll of a retired life in Connecticut.

The film opens with writer Sam Shapiro (Mike Binder) toasting to Herb’s success and reminiscing their professional relationship over the years. Herb appears less than enthusiastic about being reminded of his ailing health and forced retirement. Sandra Dulles (Winona Ryder) is then introduced as Sam’s partner. The opening scene is very nicely (and deceivingly) set up to the main content of the story, like a tasty but not filling appetizer served before entrée.

Pippa’s adjustment into the retired community is less than satisfactory – being the youngest housewife there, she develops a sleeping disorder. She sleepwalks and upon finding out about her condition by recording her night-time activities, she appears devastated. Whereas Herb finds re-adjustment equally hard, but in his own reserved and charismatic way.

It starts with his desire to want an office from where he can delegate his company, whose young workforce he refers to at one point of time as “babies”. We find out that Pippa’s relationship with her daughter Grace (Zoe Kazan) is less than satisfactory with Grace bluntly ignoring her presence at a family dining night in a posh restaurant.

The focus again shifts back into Pippa’s past; zooming in on the disintegration of her mother who suffered from bipolar disorder. Her condition was exacerbated by the constant use of amphetamines. The prolonged absence of Pippa’s father on the screen helps audiences understand Pippa’s reactions and responses better. Frustrated at her inability to help her mother, she seeks refuge at her paternal aunt Trish’s place in NYC. There she finds out her aunt is a lesbian and is introduced to her roommate Kit (Julianne Moore).

There is a touching confrontation/conflation between Pippa’s mother Suky (Maria Bello) and Pippa at Trish’s apartment but Pippa insists on staying at NYC. Kit’s influence on Pippa leads to a downward spiral in her lifestyle. Trish catches Pippa participating in one of Kit’s BDSM themed photoshoots and their relation ends. Pippa ends up on the street, and she carapaces her vulnerability with a anti social lifestyle by taking up smoking, alcohol, drug abuse and promiscuous sex.

Back into the present, Chris (Keanu Reeves) is introduced as the emotionally troubled son of their neighbour’s, who has left his wife and has been sleeping in his car for weeks. The on screen chemistry between Pippa and Chris is instantaneous. And when we are certain that there will be more than subtle looks and awkward stares, perpetuated by Pippa’s sleepwalking (where she ends up at the store Chris works at), we are once again catapulted back to the past where Pippa met Herb.

There is a stunning scene delivered by Monica Bellucci who played Gigi Lee, Herb's wife, also prominently younger than him. To keep it brief, Herb became a shining light in Pippa's incredibly dark world. Their love is unusual, defying stereotypical barriers but in a subtle way it is also very cathartic. And it stands true to the notion that love doesn't distinguish between the old and the young, the rich and the poor and every other love-related clichés ever uttered.

Just when the skeptical souls wondered if there'd ever be a conflict in the film, we along with Pippa discover what Herb's been doing in his office. Shacking it up with Sandra, who is even younger than Pippa. Jumping from a trophy wife to a trophy mistress, but somehow our sympathies remain with Herb when he admits he doesn't want to grow old and indulging in frivolity conceals this inconvenient truth from his mind.

When Pippa decides to leave Herb, he gets another heart attack and becomes brain dead. Grace and Pippa reconcile. Chris and Pippa have sex in Chris's car. The Lee family pulls the plug on Herb and Pippa takes off with Chris on a spontaneous roadtrip, leaving it upto Grace and Ben (her kids) to arrange their father's funeral.

My gripe with the film is that the ending felt a bit rushed up - it could've ended better, more dramatically but it sort of whimpered off the screen. However I like the issue of fidelity, and the constant human need to be reassured, to be loved, the overwhelming fear of growing old, of dying, of being alone are addressed well in this film. The moral quandary, when cheating on your spouse, or cheating with the spouse of your good friend, wasn't developed well. I mean, come on, if you are going to sleep with your best friend's husband or wife, you are bound to have some kind of second thoughts. Maybe guilt trips? Though I admit Sandra's guilt was fantastically portrayed by Winona in the last hospital scene - it was the highlight of the film for me at least.

My problem with Herb is his cavalier attitude towards women - he treats them like trophies. And there is a scene in the film where an animated 2-D form of Pippa ran the length of a race track and handed a baton to a cartoon form of Sandra who continued to run ahead. This is a nice dig at this prevailing attitude in many men in society who see women as prizes; attractive when shiny, dull and boring when the polish wears off.

Edit: Oh and I forgot to add, THEY ARE ALL NEUROTIC. ALL OF THEM. LIKE A DAMAGED AND NEUROTIC CLUSTERFUCK.

Overall, I wouldn't watch it twice. Some parts were just painful to sit through. And the end felt a bit unsatisfactory. However, if you have a few bucks to spare and plenty of time on hand, do watch it. It'll be an interesting experience.

Long entry is long.