The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

This film is certainly one of the strongest of 2009. For a frame of reference, the others were Fish Tank, A Single Man, Port of Call New Orleans: Bad Lieutenant and Watchmen. Well done all actors here and even more so to Rebecca Miller for pulling it off with such aplomb. A movie with flashbacks that are never of the tedious, by-rote type of so many films, the structure is surprising in a very good way. Of the actors, only Zoe Kazan, daughter of Communist witchhunt namer of names, Elia Kazan, is unconvincing. Everyone else here is nigh-on perfect including Keanu Reeves who gives a lovely, understated performance while endearingly retaining certain of his acting 'tics'. If any reader of this appreciates any films in the following list, then this one will go down well too: The Secret Life of Words, the Visitor, A Single Man, Welcome to the Riley's or the Kids are All Right. There are no guns, explosions, violent twists in plot, and it doesn't rely on suspense. Nothing here is so unsubtle, but then neither is this a 'women's movie' (like Steel Magnolia's or films along those lines) or an arthouse movie. The characters are sensitively drawn and expressive while the structure of the film makes is constantly interesting.

I'm a big fan of Robin Wright, whose work on screen never seems anything less than real. I thought that excellent acting by her -- and others in the cast -- elevated it above the rather disjointed melodrama it could have been. I also thought the casting was very good; Blake Lively really looked like a plausible younger version of Wright, for example.