Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

©Lam Duc Hien, Photographer.

In this highbrow chick flick, a people-pleasing, 50-ish housewife inching toward a nervous breakdown begins to reflect on how she got here. We flash back to meet her manic-depressive mom (Maria Bello), herself as a rebel teen (Blake Lively), and her 30-years-older-but-cool husband (Alan Arkin). While it’s always a treat to watch Robin Wright Penn’s varied and subtle work, the film’s several tonally disparate elements, while sometimes intriguing on their own, never meld into anything significant. And despite a few stabs at comedy, it’s all a bit dreary. Also Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves.