Penelope (2006)
Forlorn heiress Penelope Wilhern is cursed, and the only way out is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she find her soul mate when she's sequestered inside her family's estate with only her parents to keep her company. This untraditional fairy tale about a girl who bucks convention to create her own happy ending.
Penelope
Mark Palansky (2006)
A trendy romantic comedy made for/by nerds who watched too many Tim Burton movies as kids.
This fairy tale is based on Hans the Hedgehog. Usual love story, blah blah blah, but there is a curse on either the girl or the boy because of an ancestor’s misdeeds making them unwillingly anthropomorphic, in this case a pig snout and ears on poor Penelope’s (Christina Ricci) otherwise adorable face. Yet our young heiress, Penelope, is looking for acceptance as a pig faced girl via marriage. Enter the suitors. Shoulder devil character Edward (Simon Woods) and shoulder angel character Max (James McAvoy), As it turns out, are both out just for the fortune, as you’d expect, but neither know beforehand of her facial deformity. Normal plot line follows… Girl tries to find herself, chooses wrong boy for wrong reasons etc.
Although this makes the film ultimately predictable you should not be disappointed because, well, you’re watching a romantic comedy. Thus, you should not listen to other reviews you may have ingested on this movie. It’s your own damn fault for watching a PG kid movie that easily doubles as perfect first date material.
Even in this ground though, there are a few too many exaggerations. The idea of men literally throwing themselves out the window to escape Ricci’s prosthetic is silly. She’s way too cute, even deformed, to try to escape. Also, defenestration is illogical when there is a perfectly well shot stair way directly in front of you, especially when our writer and director went to such lengths to make this appear a feasible thing to happen in a modern New York/London setting.
I say trendy because of the sets, props, costumes, chosen actors reflect the tastes of a savvy graphic designer trying to tap the imagination of a 14 year old girl in the early 21st century. Bright colors, slight goth tint, east side New York setting allows for many a spunky supporting role, including our producer Reese Witherspoon, and two hot for now, but otherwise vaguely androgynous and British male counterparts ala Orlando Bloom.
All these roles are perfectly executed. Otherwise cut and dry characters pop with actual acting. Everyone knows Ricci and Witherspoon of course, they are solid both in art house and popular flicks. McAvoy is on the rise to similar stardom what with The Last King of Scotland and Atonement under his belt, likewise Peter Dinklage has been in numerous critically acclaimed films like The Station Agent plus a cameo opposite Will Ferrell in Elf. Who we don’t know so well is Simon Woods, but he too plays either serious Octavian in HBO’s Rome or wickedly doofy suitor to Keira Knightly in Pride and Prejudice. If the subtly of this cast’s humor and earnesty is lost, this too is your own damn fault for giving up on what is a lovely movie, if a bit stretched in places.
Mostly it is sweet girly candy with a subtle flower motif that easily could have gone the way of Tinkerbell and friends, but didn’t. Soundtrack, likewise.
This movie didn't make me very interested in seeing when the trailers were all over the t.v. but now that I have seen it I am not disappointed with it at all. This is a great family fantasy to watch with your kids or even if you don't have kids. I was actually quite surprised with it. The film stars Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara and Reese Witherspoon. The performances are much better than I thought they were gonna be and the story is really packed with everything you need to close the story successfuly. James McAvoy once again proves why he is hollywood's hottest new actors by delievering a sweet performance and Christina Ricci shows that she can still do some good acting. Reese Witherspoon is funny in her role.
Now there is a pretty descent story and it is about a woman who is kept in hiding by her overprotective parents because of a curse that ran in the Wilhern family for generations because of Penelope's great grandfather. Her great grandfather had slept with a maid that was working for his family and she was pregnant with his child so instead of marrying her he married some other woman and the pregnant lady killed herself. Now that lady's mother was the town witch and cursed the family so that the next girl that was born with Wilhern blood will have a pig face. Penelope(Chistina Ricci) has to marry a person from a rich family to break the curse but can't because everyone leaves when they see her face. All run except one Max Campien(James McAvoy) and the rest can become a little predictable, but if not I don't want to ruin it for those that are going to see the movie.
Now the film is pretty good and the story pretty well written and I definitely recommend that you watch it with your family because at the end theres a moral to be noticed. This film is great family fun.
