ROBIN Wright Penn leads an all-star cast in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (15). From all outward appearances, Pippa leads a charmed existence. An anchor of feminine serenity, she is the devoted wife of an accomplished publisher (Alan Arkin) 30 years her

ROBIN Wright Penn leads an all-star cast in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (15).

From all outward appearances, Pippa leads a charmed existence.

An anchor of feminine serenity, she is the devoted wife of an accomplished publisher (Alan Arkin) 30 years her senior, the proud mother of two grown-up children, and a trusted friend and confidant to all who cross her path.

But as Pippa dutifully follows her husband to a new life in a staid Connecticut retirement community, her idyllic world and the persona she has built up over the course of her marriage will be put to the ultimate test.

Embarking on a bittersweet journey of self-discovery, along with help from a new, strange and soulful acquaintance (Keanu Reeves), Pippa must now confront both her volatile past and the hidden undercurrents of her seemingly placid world to find the true sense of self which has always eluded her.

The cast also includes Julianne Moore, Maria Bello, Winona Ryder and Monica Bellucci.

The film is directed by Rebecca Miller - daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and wife of actor Daniel Day-Lewis - from her own novel.

She says: "It's about a woman who you think you know when you meet her.

"Of course, you find out that she's had a very different life than you'd ever expect - that she has a past.

"Gradually, you come to understand her, know her, and maybe even love her through understanding that past."

The genesis of Miller's novel came in 2000, following a reunion with a friend she hadn't seen for 20 years, an irrepressible young woman who had since become a responsible wife and mother.

"I started thinking about how that happens, how somebody's identity mutates in that way, and whether or not you really ever change internally," says Miller.

"That was the fundamental seed of it.