Rebecca Miller’s The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a film she adapted for the screen from her own novel, begins when Pippa’s (Robin Wright Penn) husband, Herb (the always wonderful Alan Arkin), 30 years her senior, suffers three heart attacks and decides to live a more simple life in a retirement village.

Despite attempts to stay positive about her prematurely aged life, Pippa finds herself in the midst of a quiet mental breakdown.  She latches on to outside interaction, making dinner for her younger friends Sandra (Winona Ryder) and Sam (Mike Binder), while beginning a strange but strong friendship with the only other “young” person in the village, her neighbor’s down-on-his-luck son Chris (Keanu Reeves).

When Pippa’s breakdown loosens troubling memories, we see a jaggedly cut series of events from her past chaotic life scattered among the stressful present.  Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively plays young Pippa as she runs away from home and experiments to find her true identity.

As Pippa’s life pieces connect, we find that she is even more broken than she seems – weighted down by events so terrible and guilt so large that we can only imagine.  Meanwhile in the present, more drama unfolds around every corner, piling unexpected emotions on adult Pippa (and consequently on us, the viewers!).

Robin Wright Penn’s acting truly shines, and Blake Lively fits extremely well as teenage Pippa (a deeper role for her, but played with the same Serena Van Der Woodsen beauty and charisma).

Miller’s film places a creative twist on the whole distressed-childhood-leads-to-rebel-teenager-leads-to-recovered-adult-with-issues theme.  The plot succeeds in addressing major dramatic issues with a lighthearted charm – you’ll smile, then you’ll cry, then you’ll be furious, then somehow, you’ll giggle.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (on DVD now) is definitely worth a watch.