Penelope - Movie Review

I wanted to see the movie Penelope long before I had even seen the trailer, mainly because I had found out that it was being produced by Reese Witherspoon, who I am a huge fan of. When I learned that the talented Christina Ricci had been given the lead role in this movie, I just had to see it. Would Penelope live up to my expectations, or would it be just another "okay" movie? Here, I'll tell you what I thought.

Penelope Movie Review - The Plot

Keep in mind that the movie Penelope is a modern fairytale. If you do not like fairytales, then you will not like Penelope. In the beginning of the movie, we learn that there is a curse which has been placed on the Wilhern family that will affect the firstborn daughter. It isn't until a century later that the first daughter is born. Penelope, played by Christina Ricci, is born with a pig snout due to this curse.

Penelope's parents, which are played by Richard Grant and Catherine O'Hara, keep her in hiding her whole life. In fact, they even pretend that that she has died. The only way to break the curse that has been placed on them is for Penelope to marry a "blue blood" - someone who is upper class. Her parents hope that one day this will happen and they search for suitable matches for her.

They bring many men who would be suitable to date their daughter to the house. Each and every single one of these men leaves when they see how "ugly" (I thought it was kind of cute) Penelope's face looks with a pig snout. The Wilherns allow the wrong possible suitor into their home, who later reveals his experience with the media. He meets Lemon, who is played by Peter Dinklage (you may remember him as Miles Finch from the movie Elf), who already has had his own bad experiences with the family. He hires a gambling addict named Max (James McAvoy) to become a suitor who will take pictures in exchange for $5,000.

I won't leave you with any spoilers, but you can probably imagine where the plot is heading. Although I think that it is slightly predictable, it is different from many of the movies that have been recently released, which is one of its finer aspects.

Penelope Movie Review - Acting