"Penelope" (2008) - Movie Review

“Penelope” is hypocritical in many scenes and the goodness of Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage and the soothing ending song of Sigur Rós are used in vain making an exemplary haphazard story telling. Blending the current reality to the fairy tale story is an idea popping in to countless small good props to an otherwise falling apart antique stylistic furniture even for a janitor’s room.

An old curse has turned the rich blood Penelope’s (Christina Ricci) of that of a pig’s. With her over protective and overly concerned about third eye opinion, her hysterical and irritating mother (Catherine O’ Hara) stages a fake death of her baby and locks her up. As for every curse or riddle or trouble there is an unlocking of mystery it is said to believe that she would get her nose back when some one of her “own” kind or which means “blue blood” or whatever it means to marry her. For the fortune she has, they could have found numerous marriage mercenaries. Their belief on the curse is selective and it becomes preposterous.

And they do find one such mercenary, Max (James McAvoy) a hand some guy with a big gambling problem. But the family does not find him rather a failed journalist (Peter Dinklage) to capture the picture of Penelope. He joins hands with a young man (Simon Woods) who says to have survived an attack from the monster. He of course was one of the arranged men for Penelope to choose and as with every body he freaks out. Such as the personality the film has that not even one single grown up man has the patience to stand and take time to understand what he saw. Not that it would not surprise or shock or gross them, but running for life with every single one of them (supposedly happening for seven years as Penelope says) is a little extreme. Somehow Max misses the show and stays after the men run out to have the most unconvincing connection between a man and woman to take place. There is not a single conversation in between them which makes the viewers to believe that they have something to look upon inside than the outside.

While the film is supposedly preaching the judgmental eyes on exterior importance given upon, it uses that in inappropriate comments. When depicting negative about something, it is bound to use that to tell the intended message which on I agree. In “Penelope” though it gives crisp short cringe at noticeable times and the underlying note is long forgotten. It does not stick because the plausibility and thinness of the characters with other characters. With Max and Penelope not having gelling factor, next comes Reese Witherspoon as this annoying delivery girl who befriends drunken Penelope. A ride back in the Vespa and Penelope has seen and lived the world in three weeks. And guess what, she manages to conceal her name and face quite easily. She does not bother for work since she has the credit card and some other attained cash, what she would have done the whole day, for three weeks? Sure delivering along with her new friend, but here again the failure for the film to withhold or justify that bond and the experience is flimsy.

With overflowing scenes of this kind, I became impatient and cheated on the poor job of putting together a possibly sweet picture for every one. “Penelope” has so many unwanted suspense and disjointed incidents exposing bad editing. Max after the fiasco with Penelope, realizes of his long addictive habit to come clean and when he sees her again says that she inspired him by her going out of the house. But guess what, he comes clean well before that. Inconsistency is an icing to this badly written piece.

The film hopes to rope in the fantasy land with the paparazzi infested zone to make a statement. True when people want to know something different to make them feel better and move on with their life. There is a desire in need of a potion of failed successful people to make them feel proud about the toughness they have given to make them tough or to think like that seeing the fortunate lose it in character, strength or appearance even in falsified and through invaded privacy in illicit manner to bring it. If that’s the idea to pose, “Penelope” directed by Mark Palansky is not an inspiration, entertainment or remotely enjoyable.