You remember that ever-so-slightly well-known story called Beauty And The Beast, don't you? You know, the one where a mean-spirited prince is cursed to appear as an ugly beast until he learns to love another and is loved by her in return? In the modern day fable "Penelope", a similar concept is given a gender reversal and a few plot trimmings of its own. The result is a decent little film, engaging enough to be worthy of a look despite its unambitious and fairly predictable narrative.
An ancient family curse results in Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) being born with the face of a pig. Her parents Franklin (Richard E.Grant) and Jessica (Catharine O'Hara) are horrified and do everything in their power to hide Penelope away from the world, even faking reports of her death and subsequent cremation. Unscrupulous journalist Lemon (Peter Dinklage) tries to get a photo of the mutant child, but is attacked and blinded in one eye by her furious mother. Many years later, Penelope is a grown-up young woman still living a sheltered life in the confines of her grand house. Her parents believe that the curse can be broken if they find a husband of aristocratic blood for her, but every potential suitor seems to run away in horror upon seeing her disfigured face. The latest would-be suitor, Edward Vanderman (Simon Woods), is no different. Upon being introduced to Penelope he flees in terror and reports the encounter to the disbelieving police. Vanderman's story is ridiculed and he is locked up for the night. Upon getting out he decides to clear his name, and teams up with the eye-patched reporter Lemon to bring shame upon the Wilherns and their grotesque daughter. The dastardly duo hire a broke gambler, Max (James McAvoy), to get close to the girl and get damning photographs of her. But against all odds, Max finds himself falling in love with the pig-faced girl ..
The film is pleasant fare, with Ricci holding it together quite well as the titular character. She never appears as disgustingly ugly as the people around her suggest (which makes the moments where men literally dive through windows in the family mansion to escape her attention a bit hard to swallow). However, Ricci makes the character agreeable and gives us genuine reason to empathise with her. The other memorable performance in the film comes from O'Hara as Penelope's insensitive mother, so obsessed with ending the curse that she never gives a moment's thought to her daughter's actual feelings. The rest of the performers do OK, though their characters are generally conventional types. The moral of the story about finding beauty and happiness from within - is as old as time (even "Dumbo", and some less well-known films that pre-date it, are essentially about the same thing). Nevertheless it's hard not to suppress a smile of satisfaction as Penelope learns to live and be happy with her face, ultimately getting her man and living happily ever after. As simple feel-good fables go, this one is effortlessly watchable in its minor way.
An ancient family curse results in Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) being born with the face of a pig. Her parents Franklin (Richard E.Grant) and Jessica (Catharine O'Hara) are horrified and do everything in their power to hide Penelope away from the world, even faking reports of her death and subsequent cremation. Unscrupulous journalist Lemon (Peter Dinklage) tries to get a photo of the mutant child, but is attacked and blinded in one eye by her furious mother. Many years later, Penelope is a grown-up young woman still living a sheltered life in the confines of her grand house. Her parents believe that the curse can be broken if they find a husband of aristocratic blood for her, but every potential suitor seems to run away in horror upon seeing her disfigured face. The latest would-be suitor, Edward Vanderman (Simon Woods), is no different. Upon being introduced to Penelope he flees in terror and reports the encounter to the disbelieving police. Vanderman's story is ridiculed and he is locked up for the night. Upon getting out he decides to clear his name, and teams up with the eye-patched reporter Lemon to bring shame upon the Wilherns and their grotesque daughter. The dastardly duo hire a broke gambler, Max (James McAvoy), to get close to the girl and get damning photographs of her. But against all odds, Max finds himself falling in love with the pig-faced girl ..
The film is pleasant fare, with Ricci holding it together quite well as the titular character. She never appears as disgustingly ugly as the people around her suggest (which makes the moments where men literally dive through windows in the family mansion to escape her attention a bit hard to swallow). However, Ricci makes the character agreeable and gives us genuine reason to empathise with her. The other memorable performance in the film comes from O'Hara as Penelope's insensitive mother, so obsessed with ending the curse that she never gives a moment's thought to her daughter's actual feelings. The rest of the performers do OK, though their characters are generally conventional types. The moral of the story about finding beauty and happiness from within - is as old as time (even "Dumbo", and some less well-known films that pre-date it, are essentially about the same thing). Nevertheless it's hard not to suppress a smile of satisfaction as Penelope learns to live and be happy with her face, ultimately getting her man and living happily ever after. As simple feel-good fables go, this one is effortlessly watchable in its minor way.