"Penelope" movie review

This week we'll be taking a look at Penelope, from first-time director Mark Palansky. Christina Ricci stars as a girl born with the curse of a pig-nose. Believing she must marry a “blue-blood” to break the curse, she unsuccessfully courts several men. James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, and Peter Dinklage costars.

Ryan: Penelope prides itself as a modern fairy tale. Sometimes that works—like with last year's Enchanted and sometimes it doesn't—like with just about every Hillary Duff movie. Penelope falls somewhere in between. It's a film with the standard—generic—elements of a fairy tale. It really doesn't offer anything new and unfortunately recycles those timeless ideas with a mostly contrived plot. There are a few bright spots, McAvoy's performance and the somewhat surprising ending but for the most part Penelope is one of those indie movies that falters from being the clever bit of art that it aspired to be.

Andy: Mostly I found Penelope pretty weird. It starts off with a which cursing a family, but then proceeds to be fairly realistic and modern with its portrayal of the world the characters inhabit. It seems to be stuck somewhere between committing to being a fairy tale and attempting to rationally explain the strange events of the movie. It also suffers from the fact that the pig nose didn't really look that bad on Christina Ricci, so it was hard accept the extreme reaction of many of her suiters.

Ryan: This certainty isn't James McAvoy's best work but like with most good actors dealing with sub-par material he is at least able to put forth a reasonable performance. If anything this role just reassures that he can aptly handle indie material and that a jump to something bigger would be in his best interest as he could be a true Hollywood star. The rest of the performances by the leads do little to enhance the movie. Reese Witherspoon, who normally is a joy to watch on screen, lacks the screen time to make a memorably impression. As for the lead herself, Penelope, Christina Ricci struggles to find a direction with the part.

Andy: I actually found all of the performances except Ricci's to be pretty solid. I don't think James McAvoy has ever had a bad performance in a movie, and this one is certainly no exception. Reese Witherspoon did a nice job in a different role than she is accustomed to, and Peter Dinklage was outstanding as the scrappy reporter trying to get a photo of Penelope. Unfortunately Ricci's leading performance was the weakest of the pack, and that's a problem for any movie.

Ryan: Part of the problem with Penelope is it's running time or lack there of . Normally this argument goes the other way—that most movies are too long. But with the Penelope the shortness of the film hurts the overall product. The characters are not fully developed and the storylines are rushed to come to a suitable conclusion. I'm not saying that this movie needed the length of an epic film but a few more minutes here and there might have made for a more fulfilling film-going experience.

Penelope has some good performances, but it generally falls short. Final grade: C-.