The Heart of Penelope

Living in the world today as a teenage girl can be difficult, especially when you have people always telling you that without beauty, you will never find love. Reese Witherspoon understands the struggle young women have and evidently decided to prove a great point in producing the movie Penelope. The adorable, fairy-tale story begins by telling the history of the Wilhern family. Many generations before Penelope was born, her great grandfather fell in love with a peasant, but because she was not from a family of wealth, he refused to marry her. The peasant’s mother (who happened to be a witch) came to the Wilhern house and put a curse on the decedents of Wilherns so that the next baby girl born to their family should have the face of a pig. It just so happens that the next girl is Penelope.
In order to get rid of the curse, Penelope must find “one of her own kind”, who accepts her in spite of her looks. Her “loving” mother Jessica, has a difficult time admitting that her only child has the nose of a pig and continues to tell Penelope that the curse is not her fault but the fault of her great grandfather. Because Jessica is ashamed, she hides Penelope away from the world and tries to secretly find this someone who will love her daughter. Many men come to meet Penelope, but when she shows herself, they all end up jumping out the window (literally) because her nose surprises them. When Max, a handsome and talented gambler, rejects her for a different reason than her face, Penelope decides it is time to embrace the real world.
The fantastic acting carried out by Peter Dinklage (Lemon), James McAvoy (Max), and Christina Ricci (Penelope) made the movie delightful and entertaining. Ricci’s face provided beauty even with a prosthetic nose. Besides her adorable face, Christina had a certain innocence through out the movie, which prevented anyone from judging her for her facial features. As an actress she could not have represented the cheerful and positive Penelope any better. McAvoy and his amazing accent definitely enhanced the film. Although he was charming most of the time, his character was brought across as a carefree spender with no purpose in life. But as the movie proceeded, the audience could see that under all those poor qualities, was a man with talent and passion. Dinklage portrays a man who has stalked the Wilhern house for years trying to expose the curse to the world. In the beginning he appears to be the “bad guy”, yet after acquiring a picture of Penelope and writing the article he so ardently desired, he seems to feel guilty and angry with himself. A change appears to take place inside him and he begins to respect Penelope as a person, not just a story. Peter did a spectacular job of making the audience hate him in the opening of the film and then admire him by the end.
In addition to the great acting, the fairytale-like-story brings across a very profound thought. It teaches the audience (especially girls) to “like themselves the way they are” and not spend their whole lives trying to hide or change. Penelope spends most of her life (and in this case the length of the movie) to discover that it is not the outside that matters, but the inside that counts. Most of the time in a movie the celebrities are gorgeous and perfect, so that by the end everyone wants to look exactly like them. But the writers of Penelope must have wanted to communicate a different idea of beauty, because they did not potray Max as Prince Charming nor Penelope as the lovely maiden. Instead they gave each one a special personality and character, so that people would love them both for their hearts.
The scenery and computerized graphics in Penelope give the story a fairytale feeling. They are unique and enchanting in a childish way. For instance, Penelope’s bedroom almost seems like a picture book. She has every toy a child could desire and even a pretend garden. Although her imaginary life appears splendid, Penelope still longs for the real world. When she finally enters reality, she floats around a fair where children are playing and joy fills the hearts of everyone. Some critics might laugh at this introduction to the real world, but it betrays Penelope’s innocence all the more. One can see that a lot of time and thought went into the creation of this wonderful story.
Besides the creativity of the tale, a few particular aspects take away from the effectiveness of the film. (Spoiler Warning) The director seems to spend a large amount of the movie trying to bring across the reason why Max cannot break the spell. At least five different scenes are used to show the viewers that he does not come from a family of wealth and is hence not “one of Penelope’s own kind”. Instead of spending so much time on this one element, the writers could have developed the relationship between Max and Penelope. Perhaps this would have made their love a little bit more believable. Yes they learned each other’s favorite instrument and what career the other one wanted to pursue, but there were not enough scenes of them together to really assume he had the ability to love her for her heart regardless of her face. Although Penelope is recommended for all ages, even younger children, the screenwriters included some adult language.
In spite of the language and elaboration of Max’s unsuitability, I enjoyed watching this movie. It kept me guessing, had me laughing, and of course I fell in love with Max! Although to some it may seem too “happily even after”, we all know that every once in a while we need to see something that lifts our spirits and gives us a great feeling inside. What better way to do so than to watch a fairy tale? Over all the Director Mark Palansky brings a great point across that will keep the audience thinking about who they are instead of what they are wearing. Just like Penelope learned we must all remember, “It’s not the power of the curse; it’s the power you give the curse.”