Movie Mama Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Starring: Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage
Directed By: Mark Palansky
Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language.
Because of the Wilhern family's history of unabashed vanity, a curse befalls the family and poor Penelope Wilhern is born with the face of a pig. The only way the curse can be broken is if she finds true love despite her odd features. But Penelope's mother has kept her locked away from the outside world for the past 25 years. The only people allowed to see Penelope are a series of eligible, rich suitors who are interested in the enormous dowry they would receive if they consented to marry her. But after seven years of scaring every suitor away, Penelope decides to give up the search for love and tries to love herself just the way she is.
Penelope is a refreshing, modern fairy tale about growing up and learning to love yourself despite what others may think. It moves rather fast, but the pace is akin to reading a storybook aloud to your child. There is a delightful, surprising twist, plenty of moments to make you laugh, and even a few that might bring a tear to your eye. The acting from James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage, Simon Woods, and Reese Witherspoon is superb. I even loved Christina Ricci with a pig snout--it's very becoming on her! So if you have a middle school to high school age daughter, or a friend who is a young girl at heart, take her out to see this film. You won't be disappointed.
PROS
Once on her own, Penelope finds friends that stand by her side despite her abnormalities. Although the story line is similar to most fairy tales--a heroine seeking a husband to break a curse--in the end, it is not romantic love that Penelope needs most.
The themes in Penelope will no doubt ring true for every woman in one form or another. We have all been ridiculed, teased, and harassed, and we have all felt inferior for simply being different. Penelope's constant strength and perseverance is refreshing and inspirational. At the end of the film, we find that the moral of the story is not that "it's always the mother's fault," or "rich people stink," but rather "it's not the power of the curse, it's the power you give the curse."
CONS
There is one very brief scary image that gave most of the audience a jump. Most scenes include smoking and drinking and Penelope gets tipsy at one point. Max (James McAvoy) has a gambling problem and we see him gambling on quite a few occasions, but gambling is never glorified in the film and Max gives it up in the end. There are two fleeting sexual innuendoes which will most likely fly over your child's head--one of them flew over mine. At one point, Catherine O'Hara shows quite a bit of cleavage.
OVERALL
I thought Penelope was a delightful change of pace from the usual rubbish that comes out of Hollywood. Cleverly written, directed, and acted, the film is quirky and fun and will appeal to the young girl in all of us.
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Megan is the staff family movie reviewer for pluggedinparents.com. For more parenting articles on health and safety, nutrition, baby, money and tech, family life, pets, and movie reviews, visit pluggedinparents.com today!
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Popularity: 5% [?]
I don't know if it was the movie or just that I was tired but I ended up falling asleep for a portion of this movie. I know what it was, it was the movie. Not to say that this movie is bad. No, this movie is perfect for the children between 3 to 12 years old. I kind of compare this movie to Barney, perfect for kids, mind numbing for adults. 
A testament to the endurance of the human spirit. I must admit, when I first heard of this movie I thought it would just be another movie with a lot of animal mantronics running around trying to eat all the human, another Jurassic Park. I was pleasantly surprised that throughout the whole entire movie I only say 3 prehistoric animals. And if those encounters were brief. Instead of the director concentrating on the animals of this time they decided to concentrate on the story line and that is exactly what I wanted out of the movie.
Will Smith has some how re-invented himself again. I compare this movie to Cast Away with Tom Hanks were he spoke to a Wilson soccer ball for almost 2 hours. Somehow, he kept everyone entertained. The same goes for Will Smith, but instead of a soccer ball, he talks with his German Shepard that was left behind by his son. He also has a few counter parts in manikins that he also converse with throughout the movie.
This is the latest Will Ferrell film to hit the cinema and like his other films this is a comedy primarily aimed at a teenage audience and it is true much of the audience were teenage men. Will Ferrell plays Jackie Moon a coach, player and owner of the basketball team Flint Tropics. He aims to guide his team to glory and get large enough attendances to stay in the league. This film tries to be the story of the underdog prevailing against all of the challenges that he faces.
