Penelope (2006) More at IMDb Pro »

I didn't know what the heck Penelope was, I only saw the trailer once and it looked very strange, I only saw the poster more than a few times and it again, didn't really catch my interest. But my friends and I decided to check it out and I'm actually glad that I saw it. As silly story that it is and a bit predictable, it's a good movie. Most romantic comedies tick me off because they are so predictable and the it's the same formula each time, Penelope is close to the same formula, but instead adds a fairy tale twist. It has the same moral of the story as most films of having to accept yourself, but Christina Ricci made it more charming and lovable. The cast was perfect and all did a great job, the looked like they had such a good time bringing this story to life.

Penelope seems like the girl that should be living the high life, a wealthy family, part of royalty, but her life isn't perfect. Due to a shallow mistake her ancestor made, a witch cursed a face of a pig onto the next born daughter, that happens to be Penelope who apparently has to marry a man of royal blood to break the curse. But since she's not the prettiest face on the planet, every man runs from her, but Max, a spy sent by a photographer, Max learns that Penelope is a beautiful soul. Penelope runs away though to find her freedom and instead finds herself and how wonderful she truly is.

Penelope is a very cute film, I was very impressed with the story, there were some things I was a little disappointed in, like how they just abandoned some characters for no reason. But I think it's hard to fit it in a short film, still I think it could have been edited better. But Christina Ricci was a great choice for Penelope, even though she's still oddly enough not the ugliest woman I've ever seen with the nose, she did a good job and held her own well. Reese Witherspoon, small role, but she was so charming. I would recommend Penelope, it's a cute film and was a lot of fun to watch.

7/10