Rebecca Miller (aka the woman who gets to have sex with Daniel Day-Lewis on a regular basis) must have really knocked one out of the park with her adaptation of her own unreleased novel, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. She already had the likes of Robin Wright Penn and Julianne Moore, along with Winona Ryder, but joining up with the film today are Keanu Reeves, Alan Arkin, Monica Bellucci and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Or, maybe, it wasn’t the quality of the script that drew in this collection of actors. Pippa Lee, which Miller will direct, will be co-produced by Plan B Entertainment, meaning Miller will likely have a decent budget with which to work this time around. And everybody likes money; that’s why they call it money (I know that’s not how the line goes; I modified it for my own purpose).
In short sentences, here’s a quick rundown of the film’s plot and the characters each actor will play: Arkin and Wright Penn (playing a 50-year old) are married. Arkin dumps Wright Penn for Ryder. Wright Penn starts banging Keanu. Bellucci is Arkin’s previous wife. Gyllenhaal is “Wright Penn’s diet pill-addicted mother in flashback sequences.” Moore writes books and is a lesbian.
As an aside, the Hollywood Reporter describes Keanu as Wright Penn’s “younger lover,” which I can’t help but find amusing.
Here’s hoping Pippa Lee can rise above Miller’s previous work and inspire some emotion in me other than “meh.” This one will begin shooting in April.