I attended the North American Premiere of "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller from her own book, this is the complex, multi-layered life story of a woman trying to survive her checkered past. Its stellar cast makes this film a joy -- Robin Wright Penn is extraordinary as the titular character, while Keanu Reeves, Blake Lively, and Winona Ryder truly shine in supporting roles. But "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" is, most of all, a vehicle for the legendary Alan Arkin as Pippa's husband Herb Lee. He's at his best yet.

The script is about 5/50 drama and comedy so it's hard to pin it down either way. But that's what real life is, isn't it? The art and costume direction are superb with great care taken to ensure that each of Pippa Lee's "lives" has its own unique color palette and sets to match. Keeping it all together is a wonderful recurring musical theme and sweet score. There are a number of clever transitions between sets and time periods which were not done with computers but "in-camera." As an aficionado of the craft of film-making, these set tricks blew me away.

"The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" is a disappointing film by Rebecca Miller. The direction and the performances are top-notch, but the story is uninteresting and boring. The cast with names such as Robin Wright, Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder, Maria Bello, Keanu Reeves, Julianne Moore, Blake Lively e Monica Bellucci, just to mention the most famous maybe, all of them excellent. But unfortunately, the screenplay is tiresome and goes nowhere, and the insipid character Pippa Lee is not attractive to the viewer. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Vidas Cruzadas - A Vida Íntima de Pippa Lee" ("Cross Lives - The Intimate Live of Pippa Lee")

Pippa Lee (Robin Wright) feels lost after her older husband Herb (Alan Arkin) move them from Manhattan to a Connecticut retirement community. It's a place of quiet death and she's slowing breaking down. They have two adult kids. She befriends young Chris Nadeau (Keanu Reeves). Herb has Sandra Dulles (Winona Ryder). In flashbacks, Pippa Lee reveals her life with her manic-depressive mother Suky Sarkissian (Maria Bello). As a young woman, Pippa (Blake Lively) deals with her unstable mother and runs away to stay with her aunt Trish and her lesbian lover Kat (Julianne Moore).

This is filled with great actresses doing interesting roles. However, it adds up to nothing too compelling. The retirement living infects the movie and makes it feel like slow emptiness. I put it all down to Rebecca Miller's directing. I can certainly sympathize with her need to direct and protect material she wrote. I desperately want to like this for the actors. The movie doesn't have the needed drive. The massive reveal with Monica Bellucci feels more like an afterthought. It's supposed to be the turning point in her life with Herb but her mother seems to be much more of an overwhelming influence. Her moments with her daughter Zoe Kazan are pretty touching. Blake Lively is doing excellent work and Robin Wright is solid with her part. This could be better but it seems to be concentrating on all the wrong things.