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.

Plot
A Wilhern has an affair with one of the servants, but is talked out of marrying her by his disapproving family. Heartbroken, the servant throws herself off a cliff, and her embittered and vengeful witch mother (Michael Feast) then curses the Wilherns so that the next daughter to be born into the affluent family will have the face of a pig. 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(Christina Ricci), much to the distress of her mother Jessica (Catherine O'Hara).

Jessica becomes overprotective as a result, much to the consternation of her husband Franklin (Richard E. Grant). Her fears are confirmed when a tabloid reporter named Lemon (Peter Dinklage) 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, and as her parents interpret the curse's counter ('One of her own kind' must learn to love her.) as the love of a man of noble birth, her parents attempt to introduce Penelope to possible suitors with the help of a matchmaker named Wanda (Ronni Ancona). For 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 (Simon Woods), escapes before signing the agreement.

Vanderman's fright 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 conversations with Penelope through a one-way mirror, Max is one day 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 (albeit shocked), 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, while calling off his agreement with Lemon and Vanderman (though Jessica and Wanda catch him doing so) and destroying the camera, with the realization that their attempt to exploit Penelope is wrong.

Penelope finally having had enough of the constant match-making and endless solitude. Inspired by Max's conversations about the outside world, flees the protection of her parents' home, and journeys out into the city, naive and ignorant about normal life. Though her parents believe her unable to hide her nose, she uses a scarf to cover her face. While at a bar, Penelope ends up befriending delivery girl Annie (Reese Witherspoon), who becomes her "real world" mentor and best friend. Having spent her mother's credit card while at a hotel, and seeing that Lemon and Vanderman are offering a reward for a photograph of her, she decides to collect on the reward by producing a photo of herself (which finally drives a wedge between the two) while remaining anonymous in public with her scarf. Penelope's courage in going out to the world then acts as an inspiration for Max, who quits gambling and returns to piano playing in an old theatre. Meanwhile, her parents become desperate trying to find her and take her back home, though torn over the event. Penelope runs from them upon them finding her at last, and then passes out in the bar, causing Annie to remove Penelope's scarf. 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 (Nigel Havers), seeing the public's fondness for Penelope and embarrassed by his son's vocal cruelty toward her, coerces Edward into proposing to the girl. Lemon eventually discovers that the man he and Vanderman recruited to photograph Penelope is not Max Campion, but actually another man named Johnny Martin (James McAvoy) who took the job to solve, ironically, the same problems the real Campion (Nick Frost), who is now in jail, was suffering. On Penelope's wedding day, he provides the 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 to break 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 (as does the spectacle of her former appearance, even when the news of a gorilla boy being found in a laundry hamper eclipses it), while Jake quits his job as the Wilhern butler and is revealed to be the witch who cast the curse; he renders Jessica magically silent as a parting 'gift', whereupon Wanda breaks down and tells Penelope about Johnny Martin. That Halloween, the Wilherns find several of Penelope's students dressing up as her old pig self, and Penelope herself dons a "Penelope" mask as she goes to reunite with Johnny, who she discovers lives nearby. After an awkward reunion where the two keep themselves anonymous to each other (which ends when Penelope spots a piano), Johnny, not knowing that the curse has been broken, kisses Penelope and apologizes to her, saying that he does not have the power to break the curse. Penelope then 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 concludes telling her story to a group of children in a park-like area. When asked what the moral of the story is, she leaves it up to her class; a bright 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 to a swing, where he is seen happily pushing her. Meanwhile, on a nearby lake, Lemon rows up in a small rowboat and is about to take a picture revealing to the world what has happened to Penelope. Observing their happiness, Lemon decides to leave them alone as he rows away.

Cast

 * Christina Ricci as Penelope Wilhern
 * Andi Marie-Townsend as Young Penelope Wilhern
 * James McAvoy as John "Johnny" Martin / "Max Campion"
 * Nick Frost plays the real Max Campion
 * Catherine O'Hara as Jessica Wilhern
 * Richard E. Grant as Franklin Wilhern
 * Ronni Ancona as Wanda
 * Peter Dinklage as Lemon
 * Simon Woods as Edward Humphrey Vanderman III
 * Nigel Havers as Edward Vanderman II
 * Reese Witherspoon as Annie
 * Burn Gorman as Larry
 * Russell Brand as Sam
 * John Voce as Duty Cop
 * Lenny Henry as Krull
 * Richard Leaf as Jack the Bartender
 * Michael Feast as Jake, Witch

Background and production
The production of Penelope started in 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.

Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film 53% 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
Joby Talbot composed the music for the film. A soundtrack album was released.