The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Robin Wright Penn makes quite a centerpiece for the awkwardly-titled The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, an all-over-the-map thing from writer-director Rebecca Miller (The Ballad of Jack and Rose). The actress plays the sweet, schizy wife of a successful older publisher (Alan Arkin) newly relocated to a posh suburban independent living community. As her hold on sanity loosens, she begins to assess her past, deal with a shaky present and take fumbling steps toward a possible future. Along the way, she resets her relationships with an unstable friend (Winona Ryder) and her two kids (Zoe Kazan, Ryan McDonald), recalls potent figures from her past (including an excellent Maria Bello as her mood-swinging, pill-gulping mother) and strikes up a new friendship with a troubled, rootless local (Keanu Reeves).

The movie is front-loaded with good performances but comes undone with its tone: One minute it's hip-whimsical-mordant in the style of a Tim Burton movie, the next it’s going for hardnosed grittiness. Through the murk and uncertainty, Wright radiates such grace, light and gravity that she often convinces us we’re watching a surer, deeper movie. The heroine declares she has “had enough of being an enigma,” but the movie doesn’t let us deeply enough into Pippa’s secret lives to help us care.