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.
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.