Film Reviews

Penelope

• Rating:
• Director: Mark Palanksy
• Starring: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon, Catherine O'Hara
• Details: UK / USA / 101mins (PG)

Young heiress Penelope Wilhern (Ricci) has been cursed with the face of a pig, and the spell can only be broken if she marries into blue blood, i.e. a rich boy. Years have gone by and every suitor found by Penelope's pushy mother (O'Hara) finds her nose too repulsive to be even in the same room with. When reporter Lemon (Dinklage) hears of the curse, he becomes determined to get a snap of her and hires down-and-out heir and degenerate gambler Max (McAvoy) to audition for her hand. Max, however, finds himself falling in love with her. Light, easy and sickly-sweet is the path taken by Penelope, and the decent cast do a good job of making you forget that what you're watching is nonsense. Dinklage is great as the nefarious reporterm, and Ricci and McAvoy have some chemistry going on (parents, prepare for James McAvoy posters covering your daughter's walls in the very near future). There are a lot of problems with Penelope, however. The film is uneven - it takes precious little time in setting up (the leads fall in love far too easily and quickly) and far too long to wrap up; dragging the ass out of a story that's threadbare as it is wasn't the best idea that director Mark Palansky had. This fantasy works better as a romantic story than a comedy, with most of the gags being too silly and obvious for the seasoned moviegoer. Writer Leslie Caveny had a deluge of gags to pick from, and picked every unfunny one she could find.

Review by Gavin Burke