Penelope (2006 film)


Penelope is a 2006 British-American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Mark Palansky and starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Peter Dinklage, Richard E. Grant, and Reese Witherspoon. The film details about a girl who is born with the nose of a pig due to a curse that was placed on her family by a vengeful witch.

Plot

Decades before the events of the movie take place, wealthy socialite Ralph Wilhern has an affair with a servant girl named Clara, but is talked out of marrying her by his disapproving family. Heartbroken, Clara throws herself off a cliff, and her embittered and vengeful witch mother curses the Wilherns so that the next daughter to be born into the affluent family will have the face of a pig, a curse only to be lifted when "one of her own kind" learns to love her. For five generations, the Wilherns produce only sons. The curse is seemingly broken after a girl is born within the Wilherns, until it is revealed that the girl is not a full blooded Wilhern, but a girl born from an affair between Ella Wilhern and another man. It isn’t until the birth of Penelope, Ella’s granddaughter and a true-blooded Wilhern, that the curse takes place, much to the distress of her mother Jessica.
Jessica becomes overprotective as a result, much to the consternation of her husband Franklin. Her fears are confirmed when a tabloid reporter named Lemon begins stalking the family to get a photograph of the infant Penelope, resulting in Jessica blinding his right eye after he breaks into their house. Fearing the worst, Jessica decides to fake her daughter's death and shuts her away in their mansion where Penelope spends her life immersing herself in intellectual pursuits such as literature, horticulture and music. When Penelope turns 18, her parents interpret the curse's counter as the love of a man of noble birth, and subsequently attempt to introduce Penelope to possible suitors with the help of a matchmaker named Wanda. For the next 7 years, however, every man who lays eyes on her flees in terror, though the Wilhern butler Jake manages to catch them before they leave in order to force them to sign an agreement that they will not discuss Penelope's appearance. Unfortunately, the spoiled and arrogant Edward Humphrey Vanderman III, escapes before signing the agreement.
Vanderman reports the incident to the local police, though this only results in a newspaper article dubbing him insane. To redeem his name, Vanderman decides to team up with Lemon in an effort to get a photograph of Penelope. The two of them track down Max Campion, a young blue blood disowned by his family because of his gambling problem and in desperate need of money. Lemon and Vanderman pay Max to pose as a new suitor for Penelope, hiding a camera in his jacket so that he can steal a picture of her. After having conversations with Penelope through a one-way mirror, Max is unexpectedly caught off guard by her sweetness and charm, and Penelope also trusts him enough to show him her face. Though Max is not frightened of Penelope, he accidentally triggers the camera in his jacket, which causes him to retreat. A misunderstanding Penelope begs him to marry her simply for her status and in order to break the curse, even promising to kill herself if the marriage doesn't break the curse. Max, though obviously torn, insists that he cannot marry Penelope. Regretful for his attempts to exploit Penelope, he calls off his agreement with Lemon and Vanderman and destroys the camera.
Penelope decides she has finally had enough of the constant failed match-making attempts and endless solitude and, inspired by Max's conversations about the outside world, flees the protection of her parents' home and journeys out into the city, using a scarf to cover her nose. While at a bar, Penelope ends up befriending delivery girl Annie, who becomes her "real world" mentor. Having maxed out her mother's credit card while at a hotel, Penelope discovers that Lemon and Vanderman are offering a reward for a photograph of her, and decides to collect the reward by producing a photo of herself while remaining anonymous in public with her scarf. Penelope's courage in going out to the world consequently inspires Max, who quits gambling and returns to piano playing in an old theatre. Meanwhile, her parents become desperate trying to find her and return her home, though torn over the event. When she is eventually found by her parents, Penelope runs back to the bar and subsequently passes out. While she is unconscious, Annie removes Penelope's scarf, revealing her as the elusive Penelope to the bar's patrons. To the latter's surprise, Penelope becomes an overnight celebrity, flocked by adoring fans who are not disgusted by her face.
Meanwhile, Vanderman's father, having seen the public's fondness for Penelope and embarrassed by his son's vocal cruelty toward her, coerces Edward into proposing to her. Lemon eventually discovers that the man he and Vanderman recruited to photograph Penelope is not Max Campion, but actually another man named Johnny Martin who took on the job for the money - the real Campion is in jail for armed robbery. On Penelope's wedding day, Lemon relays this information to Jessica and Wanda. Though Wanda wants to tell Penelope the truth, Jessica forces her to keep it a secret, believing that Edward is Penelope's only chance at breaking the curse. During the wedding ceremony, Penelope realizes that she does not want to marry simply to break the curse. Though Penelope's mother urges her to marry Vanderman and at last lead a 'normal life', an exasperated Penelope says that she likes herself the way she is. This breaks the curse, as Penelope has at last been loved by 'one of her own kind' – herself – and her pig snout and ears disappear.
As the months pass, Penelope moves on and becomes an elementary school horticulture teacher, and the public's interest in her dissipates. Jake quits his job as the Wilherns' butler and is revealed to be the witch who cast the curse, rendering Jessica magically silent before he leaves. Wanda finally breaks down and tells Penelope the truth about Johnny Martin. That Halloween, several civilians dress up as her old pig self, and Penelope herself dons a "Penelope" mask as she goes to reunite with Johnny. After an awkward reunion between the two, Johnny, not knowing that the curse has been broken, kisses Penelope and apologizes to her for not having the power to break the curse. Penelope then takes off her mask and reveals that she had the power to lift the curse all along, and the two share a passionate kiss, beginning a romantic relationship.
In the final scenes, Penelope and Johnny conclude telling their story to Penelope's students in a park. When asked what the moral of the story is, she tells the class it is up to their interpretation; one boy replies, “It’s not the power of the curse, it’s the power you give the curse.” After the children are dismissed, Johnny and Penelope walk up the hill, and he begins to push her on a swing. Meanwhile, on a nearby lake, Lemon approaches in a small rowboat and is about to take a picture to reveal to the world what has happened to Penelope. Observing how happy they are, he decides to leave them alone as he rows away.

Cast

The production of Penelope started in January 2006 in London and Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire. The film's screenplay was written by Leslie Caveny. A novelization of the film was written by Marilyn Kaye. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. It was also Reese Witherspoon's first film in a producing role along with a small acting role.
Shortly after, IFC Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, with The Weinstein Company handling the home media and television distribution, with a planned mid-2007 release. Summit Entertainment eventually picked up United States distribution rights.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film 54% based on 127 reviews. The site's consensus reads "Though Penelope has a charming cast and an appealing message, it ultimately suffers from faulty narrative and sloppy direction."
Metacritic gives the film a weighted average rating of 48%, based on 29 reviews — indicating mixed or average reviews.

Box office

The film premiered September 8, 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was also shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2007. The film opened in Russia and Ukraine in August 2007. Penelope was released in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2008. It opened in wide release in the United States and Canada on February 29, 2008.
The film opened in ninth place and earned $3.8 million USD on its opening weekend in the United States.
By October 5, 2008, the film had grossed $20.8 million worldwide—with $6.5 million in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta.

Home media

Penelope was released on July 15, 2008 in the United States. It included a 2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. The extras were a behind-the-scenes featurette, cast and crew, production notes and world-premiere features from the upcoming Summit film Twilight as well as behind-the-scenes features and interviews from the film, released four months later. Only the German Blu-Ray version of the film, released in 2011, carries the fully 104 minute version of the film. US and UK releases of the film are all the edited 88/89 minute cut.

Soundtrack

composed the music for the film. A soundtrack album was released.