I’m not familiar with Rebecca Miller’s work but I appreciate that she’s a talented writer and director who has gained wide acclaim for both her films and her books. Her second film Personal Velocity: Three Portraits won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award and though she’s only made one film since that win in 2002 (though that too won some accolades) she’s one of these female directors to watch.

Her new film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, an adaptation of her first novel, stars Robin Wright Penn as Pippa Lee, a woman married to a much older man (Alan Arkin) who begins re-evaluating her life when her husband decides to move them from the city and into a retirement community. In her re-evaluation, she thinks back to her turbulent youth as a 17-year old, pill addicted teen and how her life unfolded, getting her to where she is today. Along with Arkin and Penn, the film also stars “Gossip Girl” Blake Lively as the young Pippa Lee, Maria Bello, Monica Bellucci, Julianne Moore (triple threat!), Winona Ryder, Mike Binder and Keanu Reeves.

Though I’m not particularly interested in this story (the trailer doesn’t even appeal to me), there are a whole lot of factors urging me to see this: the cast which features quite the collection of female actresses (it’s nice to see films with great casts like this), then there’s the Keanu factor but trumping all is Miller’s track record which, from the surface, suggests mainstream films with legs. I’m willing to find out; I’ve added her previous films to my DVD queue.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee will play the Edinburgh Film Festival on June 18th and will open in the UK on July 10th. I can’t find details on a US distributor but the film has been picked up for Canadian distribution by Maple Pictures. I expect we’ll have a chance to see it later this year.

The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee [ 0:01 | 4.18 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup