Penelope Review by Zombie Boy (4.5 Stars)

Penelope Review by Zombie Boy (4.5 Stars) | MatchFlick

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Movie Details

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Starring:
Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, Simon Woods, Martin Nigel Davey, Michael Feast, Nick Frost, Burn Gorman, Nigel Havers, Lenny Henry, Richard James, Christopher Fosh, Richard Leaf, Rubria Marcheens Negrao, Russell Brand, Tallulah Evans, Tallulah Evans, Christina Greatrex, Jillian Henry, Paul Herbert, Nick Shafer, Ronni Ancona

Directed By:
Mark Palansky

Written By:
Leslie Caveny

Penelope (2008)

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Movie Review by Zombie Boy
March 1st, 2008

PENELOPE is an absolutely fabulous little movie. A modern day fairy tale, more Aesopian fable than Grimm, however. Think MAY, if MAY was a romantic comedy, where the freaky girl learns to love herself without jamming a screwdriver into anybody's head.

Penelope is a girl cursed by an incident that happened long before she was born. One of her ancestors knocked up the servant girl, but then refused to marry her. When the servant girl "fell" off a cliff, her mother, who also happened to be a witch, cursed the family so that the next girl born would have a pig's nose. In the odds-defying way of a fairy tale, it was nearly one hundred years until the next girl was born. The only way to defeat the curse is for Penelope to be accepted by one of her own. So she was sheltered and sequestered by her over-protective mother and milquetoast father, and as soon as she was of age, they employed a matchmaker to find a suitable blue-blooded, old money chap for their daughter.

There are just so many things right with this movie. It is a fairy tale, but modern in the true sense of the word. It is never overtly crude, but it is also never saccharine. Some people act dastardly while others are pure of heart, some learn the errors of their ways and some are immutably irascible.

The setting and time are purposefully vague: a strange amalgamation of modern day New York and Dickensian London. This is much to the movie's advantage. It keeps you slightly off-kilter, as does the house Penelope spends the first half of the movie in. It is slightly Tim Burton-esque, but never so strange that you feel you're watching Pee Wee's Playhouse. Like I said, just askew enough to engage the back of your brain, while the front enjoys the charm and wit of the film.

Now, on to the cast: simply impeccable. From Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant as the parents, to Christina Ricci and James McAvoy as the you-hope-they'll-be couple, right on down to the always impressive Pete Dinklage as a one-eyed reporter and a bit part by producer Reese Witherspoon as Penelope more worldly counterpart. You should see it for the cast alone, if nothing else.

Would it sweeten the deal if I said there are a few scenes featuring Nick Frost?

I thought so :)

I would also like to point out that even though the extreme reactions to Penelope's condition are obviously exaggerated to make a point, I was still surprised at how goddamn cute I thought Ricci was with her widdle piggy nowse.

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	Zara Mar 1, 2008 11:35 PM also wrote a review of Penelope
I wanted to write my own before I read yours, but I'm in complete agreement with you, obviously. I like your points about the movie being obscure in its reference to location (O'Hara obviously being American, Grant not, Ricci having no accent). I love that Dinklage's reporter character, even as minor the role is, how important it is as well, showing that he (aside from maybe McAvoy) learns the most at the end of the day. If only all paparazzi could be human beings as well. Would it be obvious that I ended up pointing out that my main 1/2 reduction was the lack of appropriate number of Frost scenes? Ha. I was really quite spellbound by this movie. Midget was quiet throughout as well. She sighed softly at the end and declared, "Mommy, that was really, really good. I liked it." "Me too" is of course what she heard in response. ManPerson was still pissy that the woman with the rambunctious 2 and 3 year olds was allowing them to run up and down the aisle and doing nothing to stop it other than keep her fat ass in the seat and say in a loud yet supposedly hushed voice, "Will you two sit down and stop it?" Ugh. But I liked that even though they were insane, the movie was so good, they didn't bug me anyway. It really was a great film, wasn't it? Honestly, it was like reading a really wonderfully crafted fairy-tale in visual form. sigh

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