Friday, February 29, 2008

Penelope - Movie Review

Penelope (PG) 102 minutes C-
Pig girl looks for love

Starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, Simon Woods, and Ronni Ancona

Penelope is a whimsical modern-day fairytale about finding inner beauty and self acceptance. It's the story of Penelope Wilhern (Ricci), a princess born with a pig snout for a nose. The snout is the result of a family curse from long ago, and the only way the curse can be broken (and the snout disappears) is for Penelope to marry a blue blood (a son of wealthy socialites).

The film is your classic ugly duckling/beauty and the beast story with a twist. Christina Ricci is Penelope, and even with a snout she's far from ugly.

Directed by Mark Palansky and also starring Resse Witherspoon (who is one of the film's producers), Penelope is uneven, and at times, bland and uninspired. But the film does have some redeeming qualities, especially if you can accept it for what it is; a goofy fairytale with a noble message of self love and fairytale style romance.

It also features a talented cast that manages to conjure up brief moments of wit and emotion even though the overall result is average at best. Penelope is only mildly entertaining and a film that was a distant memory by the time I left the movie theater parking lot.

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