Penelope Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)February 27th, 2008
PENELOPE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2008 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
If you've had an opportunity to watch the television show "Pushing Daises," you can predict quite accurately whether you'll find PENELOPE's over-the-top charms deliciously sweet or annoyingly cloying. Suffice it to say that a little of PENELOPE's excessive cuteness goes a long way.
In the can for quite a while, PENELOPE is finally getting a theatrical release. How successful it will be is questionable, but it is probably best targeted at the tweener girls demographic. There was a thirteen-year-old girl sitting next to me who applauded loudly at the end. While I never exactly disliked it, my peak enjoyment came after about fifteen minutes of this heavy-handed fairytale. After that, it was just more of the same bolts of intense whimsy until the final credits rolled.
The story concerns a long-running curse. A wealthy family is doomed to have all of its daughters born with pig snouts rather than noses. For five generations, however, the family has had nothing but boys until Penelope (Christina Ricci) is born. The family believes that the curse will be removed once Penelope marries another "blueblood." Of course, the fine print of the curse has never been recorded, so what, if anything, will really let Penelope get a nose job isn't sure. What is sure is that plastic surgery is not an option since one of Penelope's main arteries runs through her nose. Operate on it, and she will die.
Jessica (Catherine O'Hara), Penelope's ever-energetic mother, works non-stop in obtaining potential suitors for her ugly daughter. But, once the young men lay eyes on Penelope, they run as fast as they can, screaming all the way.
As always happens in such tales, one man is able to see Penelope for what she is, a sweet young lass with a less than perfect face. ATONEMENT's James McAvoy plays that man. As Max, McAvoy is initially employed by a nefarious reporter named Lemon (Peter Dinklage). Lemon wants the first photos ever of the pig-girl. Max eventually and predictably falls in love with Penelope.
>From there, the story marches to its predictable conclusion, albeit with a couple of small but nice surprises along the way. Most of the movie is quite forgettable. The only humorous moment that sticks in my brain is the newspaper headline after Penelope goes from pariah to hero -- "Pig-Latin Banned From School."
PENELOPE runs 1:30. It is rated PG for "thematic elements, some innuendo and language" and would be acceptable for all ages.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, February 29, 2008. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
