Very rare that an author gets the chance to direct her own movie, but Rebecca Miller, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and wife of Daniel Day Lewis has been able to do so twice!

First in 2002 with Personal Velocity, and now with this delicate and wry version of her acclaimed new novel.

It's a multi-layered drama about a dutiful 50-year-old wife who discovers that her husband has fallen for a younger woman, and so begins to explore her own buried sensuality and edge towards having a nervous breakdown.

At 50, Pippa Lee (Robin Wright Penn) positively glows with female serenity, the devoted wife of a brilliant publisher (Alan Arkin) 30 years her senior, proud mother of successful twins and a lovely and adored friend and neighbour.

But, when her husband spontaneously decides that they should leave New York for a retirement home as a "pre-emptive strike against decrepitude", and has an affair with someone even younger than she is, Pippa finds her beatific persona unraveling.

The truth is, the gracious woman of the present day has seen more than her fair share of the wild side.

It's an assured outing from Miller, who having secured Brad Pitt as a producer, also picked up the acting talents of Penn, Arkin, Keanu Reeves, Monica Bellucci, Julianne Moore, Maria Bello and Winona Ryder.

This is a witty, intelligent film, and Penn grabs every opportunity to shine. The result is dynamic.

Rating: 4/5