Penelope
Posted on February 29, 2008 at 9:27 am
B| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language. |
| Profanity: | Mild language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Tense emotional confrontations, some mild violence |
| Diversity Issues: | None |
| Date Released to Theaters: | February 29, 2008 |
This off-beat and uneven fairy tale has something in common with its heroine — an uncertain incongruity. That heroine is Penelope (Christina Ricci), an educated, wealthy young woman with a loving heart and the nose of a pig. More of a snout, actually. While it is actually kind of cute, Penelope’s prospective suitors are so horrified by it that one after the other they leap out of her mansion through the window, wanting to get away so fast they do not have time to take the stairs and leave by the door.
The pig nose is the result of a generation-spanning curse. Knowing that the curse can be broken if Penelope is loved and accepted by her equal, her parents (Richard E. Grant and Catherine O’Hara) keep her hidden away and parade dozens of suitable suitors in front of Penelope’s two-way mirror. If they can just keep her indoors until the curse is broken, they think she can have a normal life.
But being kept inside like a hothouse flower (the production design includes bell jars and a terrarium) is not normal. And so, as all captive princesses in fairy tales must, she runs away. And as all romantic comedy leading ladies must, she meets a prince with a secret (James McAvoy).
Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has been kicked out of so many posh prep schools that the only thing left to try is the local public school. At first, he shows up wearing his prep school blazer and carrying an attaché case, but he soon learns — around the time that a Mohawk-haired bully gives him a swirly — that this is not the way to fit in. And it only takes him a little bit longer to discover that he has what it takes to become truly popular: the willingness to listen to kids and the access to a wide range of prescription psychotropic drugs.
A 1940 film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable and set in a penal colony is an improbable candidate for Biblical allegory, but 
is a moving film that draws its power from an inspiring, Christ-like figure and its echoes of Biblical themes, spiritual without being preachy. Gable was Crawford’s all-time favorite co-star, and this was their eighth and last film together. Their strong chemistry and the way their characters interact with the mysterious prisoner who gives them a glimpse of their best selves is part of what makes this movie work on many levels. It is beautifully directed by Frank Borzage, who was a master of mood and symbolism. For the first time, the movie is available on DVD, as a part of a new boxed set,