A charming little modern-day fairy tale, Mark Palansky’s Penelope won’t win over any cynics but becomes an agreeably old-fashioned fantasy with modern-day sensibilities.
Poor Penelope (Christina Ricci): due to an age-old curse that was thought broken, she’s born with the face of a pig (well, not the whole face, but the nose at least.)
Dad (Richard E. Grant) and Mom (Catherine O’Hara) fake her death and keep her locked up at home until she reaches a marriageable age; then, the curse can be broken when she finds love with ‘one of her own kind’, i.e., a snobbish rich fellow from high society.
Only problem: each prospective husband flees upon site of Penelope, occasionally exiting through a second-story glass window.
Enter Max Campion (James McAvoy), a down-and-out gambler recruited to get photo evidence of the titular heroine. But might he fall in love with the pig-nosed Penelope? Will the curse be broken?
Palansky’s feature debut is light-hearted fare, but has a certain charm and whimsy that is missing from most modern fantasies.
Leads are well-cast and likable (Ricci with a snout is still enchanting), as are the parents, who serve mostly as comic relief but avoid becoming caricatures.
Production is fast-paced and well-designed, the London-ish setting given a hue of Tim Burton-quirkiness; film sat on the shelf for two years but was worth the wait.
Reese Witherspoon, who co-produced, shows up late in the film in a rather insubstantial extended-cameo.
