Before I even get started talking about this movie, I must mention that IMDB has Penelope listed as a 2006 movie. Does anybody know if this is a typo or if it just got hung up in post-production?
I’ve been trying to think of another movie to compare this to and can’t quite put my finger on it. This is rated PG, so it’s definitely something safe to take the kids to. The story is about a cursed family whose next daughter will have a pig-face. The family went several generations with no daughters until eventually Penelope was born. The only way to break the curse was for her to be accepted by her own kind. Her kind would be the blue-bloods, the rich, the aristocracy. Sounds like a good fairytale story, right?
This also happens to be Mark Palansky’s first time directing a feature film and Reese Witherspoon’s first film she’s acted in as well as produced. I thought Christina Ricci did a fine job of acting here. She’s one of those actors/actresses that I feel like I’ve been following most of their career from The Addams Family to Buffalo ‘66 to 200 Cigarettes to Monster and Black Snake Moan. In the past decade or so I’ve finally gotten old enough that there are decent actors out there the same age I am. In fact, it was almost weird to see Ricci in an innocuous role for a change compared to some of her recent films.
Peter Dinklage is also great as always. If you don’t recognize his name, you might remember him from Elf, and if you haven’t seen The Station Agent, that’s a must see. The hilarious Catherine O’Hara plays another funny role as Penelope’s mother. You’ll probably recognize her from Home Alone or various Christopher Guest films.
Penelope has been hidden away her whole life so as not to be made fun of for her unique face. Eventually she takes things into her own hands and decides to live her life the way she chooses and meets some friends along the way. I can’t really say much more about the plot without giving stuff away. At first glance you might dismiss this as just a kid movie. It actually wasn’t that bad. I say give it a whirl if you have nothing else to watch.
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