"Penelope" stars Christina Ricci as a girl named Penelope who was born with a pig nose. In order the break the curse put on her by an evil witch and get a real nose Penelope must find love. So her parents spend all their time trying to find Penelope a husband. But all of the men run away when they see her, kinda like I wanted to do while I was watching this movie.

"Penelope" is a fairy tale. In fact they start the movie with..."Once Upon a Time." I guess it was supposed to be a modern day "Beauty and the Beast" but the film just doesn't work.

James McAvoy plays the one guy who gets to know Penelope for who she is and he actually grows to like her. But Penelope runs away from home and becomes a media celebrity and decides she can live with the pig nose. At least for awhile.

Reese Witherspoon is one of the producers of the film. She was originally going to play Penelope but then decided to take the smaller role of a woman who becomes Penelope's first friend out in the real world. The best acting in "Penelope" is done by Catherine O'Hara, who plays Penelope's mother.

There were a lot of high school and college-aged girls in the theater I was at and they laughed and giggled throughout the movie. But I have no idea what they were laughing about. The story is very slow and they aren't any great jokes or funny situations. Maybe they were just giggling at James McAvoy.

"Penelope" is rated "PG." It's definately a family film that tries to deliver a good message but fails miserably. The movie was made in 2006 and was supposed to be released in theaters in 2007. Now it's out on DVD following a disappointing performance at the box office earlier this year.  

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "Penelope" only gets a D+.

So instead of spending money to rent "Penelope" save it in your piggy bank for a rainy day and a better movie.

Comments