HTF Blu-ray Review: THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (1 Viewer)

[Michael Reuben]

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (Blu-ray)​

Studio: Screen Media Films
Rated: R
Film Length: 98 min.
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
HD Encoding: 1080p
HD Codec: AVC
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1; English DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH; Spanish
MSRP: $29.98
Disc Format: 1 25 GB
Package: Keepcase
Theatrical Release Date: Nov. 27, 2009 (U.S.)
Blu-ray Release Date: Mar. 2, 2010



Introduction:

Robin Wright shines as Pippa Lee, the elusive type of personality that writer-director Rebecca Miller can’t help but create. Miller’s insistence on populating her films with characters who aren’t easily marketable has kept her in the indie world, but it’s also what attracts exceptional talent to her projects. Pippa Lee was made on a tight budget, but it boasts a cast and an appearance that, at studio prices, would have cost much more.



The Feature:

To the outside world, Pippa Lee (Wright) is the picture of tranquil normalcy. Nearing 50, she has moved with her much older husband, Herb, to a Connecticut retirement community. Herb, a publisher, has been forced to simplify his life after several heart attacks. So he’s traded in the Manhattan lifestyle for a country life and left his publishing company to a new generation, much to the delight of his lifelong friend and client, the author Sam Shapiro (Mike Binder), who is now the Lees’ new neighbor. But Sam has his hands full with a neurotic and needy wife, Sandra (Winona Ryder, pitch-perfect).

The Lees have two grown children. Ben (Ryan McDonald) is a law student, and Grace (Zoe Kazan) is a photo journalist, whose most recent assignment has been in Iraq. Ben is close to both parents, but Zoe is estranged from her mother. It is typical of Miller’s approach as a writer-director that the estrangement is never explained in a neatly tied-up package. Instead, two skilled actresses play the relationship in all its complexity, and as it evolves through the film, the audience gets the kind of flashes of insight into their past that real life seldom grants us, because we rarely get to witness other people’s private moments of connection.

While Herb’s retirement discontents him as one might expect for a man who has spent his entire adult life in a competitive and hard-charging world, Pippa’s reaction is different. In memories, daydreams and real dreams, a past life that she’s put aside for almost 25 years begins to resurface. She recalls her childhood, when she was Pippa Sarkissian, and had four brothers and a mother, Suky (an electric Maria Bello), who lived life as if it were a TV commercial and Suky was the star. Pippa idolized her mother, even when she couldn’t understand the strange moods that would seize her and seem to carry her away from her family. Only as a teenager did Pippa discover (because one of the brothers told her) that their mother was addicted to diet pills.

The teenage and twenty-something Pippa is played by Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively, and the resemblance between Lively and Robin Wright is so striking (with the help of lighting and makeup) that one can easily believe that the young Pippa grew into the poised and (apparently) placid woman we met at the beginning of the film. The path isn’t a straight one, though. Along the way Pippa has various interesting encounters. One is with her bohemian aunt, Trish (Deadwood’s Robin Weigert), and her “roommate”, Kat (Julianne Moore), a photographer and prolific author of soft-core lesbian porn. Eventually Pippa becomes the resident muse in a kind of Seventies artist colony – until one day Herb Lee spots this wild-child wandering with her companions along a Hamptons beach and takes her under his wing. What begins as a mentor relationship progresses into a romantic liaison, but Herb is already married to Gigi (the always watchable Monica Belucci). Though Herb and Gigi agree to divorce, Gigi, being Italian, ensures that their parting is operatically memorable.

Back in the present, Pippa and Herb are growing apart, as Herb’s unhappiness with retirement increases, while Pippa’s memories keep pulling at her. Pippa finds herself even more stirred, when their neighbor, Dot (Shirley Knight), tells them that her 35-year-old son, Chris (Keanu Reeves), has suddenly come home fleeing a broken marriage. Chris is sullen, unsociable, withdrawn and, in his own words, “an asshole”, but Pippa recognizes a kindred spirit. It’s not so much a sexual attraction (though there’s some of that as well), but the discovery of someone else who needs to restart his life, which is what Pippa Lee is slowly realizing she needs to do.

In describing the plot, I have deliberately omitted key events that move the story along and are, by turns, shocking and funny (and sometimes both). Miller successfully sustains a bizarrely off-kilter tone that won’t be to everyone’s taste but that I found strangely compelling. The transitions between the prosaic present and the candy-colored past are especially graceful and helped enormously by Robin Wright’s ability to convey the sense that the rebellious spirit played by Blake Lively is still lurking under this deceptively staid surface. Special credit is due to Alan Arkin, who subtly navigates his way through a character that, in other hands, might have seemed sleazy and shallow. Arkin’s Herb is vain and egotistical, but he’s also a vital and warm presence. You can see why Pippa fell for him, and why both his children adore him.

Pippa Lee ends with surprises for everyone. One of Pippa’s children doesn’t approve, but the other is delighted. See if you can guess, as you approach the end, which is which.



Video:

The transfer on Screen Media’s Blu-ray has excellent detail and gorgeous color, which is especially important in the sequences from Pippa’s childhood but is also notable in the gentle glow that cinematographer Declan Quinn puts on the Connecticut landscape. Even the convenience store where Keanu Reeves’ Chris takes a job looks inviting. Black levels appear solid, and I did not detect any indication of DNR or grain removal. This is a capable and film-like transfer.


Audio:

The DTS lossless track provides a nice, understated sense of ambiance while keeping the dialogue clear and centered. The piano-heavy score by Michael Rohatyn is well presented.


Special Features:

Commentary with Actor Robin Wright and Writer/Director Rebecca Miller. Miller does most of the talking, and most of her comments are either technical or performance-related. There are long pauses where neither participant is speaking, which is unfortunate. One gets the sense that Miller would be a truly interesting subject for an interview conducted by someone who was well-prepared with the right questions. Some of her technical observations, especially where she points out effects that were achieved “in camera” are well worthwhile.

Interviews with Robin Wright, Alan Arkin and Blake Lively (4:3; SD) (5:36). These appear to have been taken from a press tour. The questions are banal, and the answers are correspondingly bland.


In Conclusion:

Pippa Lee is Rebecca Miller’s fourth film, and it’s my favorite of the three I’ve seen. Personal Velocity was the most successful with critics and audiences, but while I appreciated the film’s technical skill, it left me cold. The Ballad of Jack and Rose seemed to struggle to accommodate Daniel Day-Lewis’s central performance as Jack; whether that was due to the fact that Miller was directing her husband or simply because not every director can handle Daniel Day-Lewis remains an open question. With The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, however, Miller seems to have found the perfect blend of story, cast and directorial style for the kind of movie she wants to make. Since Screen Media didn’t have the funds for a major theatrical release, home video will be where the film finds its audience.




Equipment used for this review:

Panasonic BDP-BD50 Blu-ray player (DTS-HD MA decoded internally and output as analog)
Samsung HL-T7288W DLP display (connected via HDMI)
Lexicon MC-8 connected via 5.1 passthrough
Sunfire Cinema Grand amplifier
Monitor Audio floor-standing fronts and MA FX-2 rears
Boston Accoustics VR-MC center
SVS SB12-Plus sub