Penelope (2006)

Number Rolled: 4

Movie Name/Year: Penelope (2006)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 89 minutes

Rating: PG

Director: Mark Palansky

Writer: Leslie Caveny

Actors: Richard E. Grant, Catherine O’Hara, Michael Feast, Christina Ricci, Ronni Ancona, Simon Woods, Peter Dinklage, Burn Gorman, James McAvoy, Nick Frost, Nigel Havers, Reese Witherspoon, Russell Brand

When a baby is born with the face of a pig, her upper-class parents go to great lengths to keep her out of the public eye. After faking her death, they proceed to keep her locked in the house. She’s home-schooled and suitors are brought in as they try to find the one true love that would free her from the curse.

I’ve read quite a few reviews for this movie and have found these critics never cease to amaze me. Jaded, crotchety men and women throwing out words like “pedestrian” and “cloying” for what is essentially a film meant for children, baffles me. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been hissing at the word “adult”, whenever someone calls me one, since I was eighteen, but I don’t understand why critics rarely ever take into account who the target audience is supposed to be. After all, Penelope is not directed toward adults.

I think critics who need to resort to pretentious wording just to say, “I don’t like kid’s films unless they’re made by Disney,” need to get the hell out of the business because they’re a little “dated”.

That being said, I believe this all-star cast delivered something special with Penelope. James McAvoy, Peter Dinklage, Reese Witherspoon, and the rest of the cast, really seemed to put their heart into their respective parts. I believed the story. If I had to poke at any problem at all, it would be that I don’t think Christina Ricci was ugly with a pig snout at all.

The message was also something great for kids. I loved the way the writers portrayed Penelope and how they had her react to her situation. In fact, I like this message just about as much as I liked the one in Frozen. In this movie it was almost easy to guess what would happen, but it still wasn’t the easy route, and I appreciate that.

Despite some opinions that this film was boring or clumsy, I think it was fantastic. Not only that, but I think that its appeal does reach beyond its target audience. It’s something I could sit down and watch with my god-daughter one day that we both could enjoy.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 53%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 73%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 4/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 5/5

Movie Trailer: