Penelope

Director: Mark Palansky

Starring: Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara

A young girl’s life is a hard one. But it’s even harder when you’re cursed. Penelope Wilhern, as the heir to wealthy socialites, should have it easy but it’s difficult when her problem is staring her right in the nose. As with most fairytales, all problems can be solved with true love, but unfortunately for Penelope all the riches in the world can not buy that. Disappointed by her parents’ failed attempts to help her find a suitor, Penelope sets out on her own, determined to change her life. Luckily for her, she bumps into Annie…

An all-star cast tells the story of a young woman overcoming all odds to find her Prince Charming. Leslie Caveny (a writer and producer of Everybody Loves Raymond) turned heads in the film world with her simple story and imagination. This is why Reese Witherspoon considers it one of her leading productions, and why she recruited her friend Christina Ricci to star. Ricci does a brilliant job as the protagonist, playing well the lost, innocent girl and showing great strides in her career from the social outcast she played at a young age in Casper. It was a good choice on Witherspoon’s side as Ricci promotes a young beauty that is well masked in the story and just waiting for the right time to be revealed. The film is well supported not only by Witherspoon but by Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone) in the very comic role of the unhelpful mother and also James McAvoy, who plays the heart-throb love interest with a tainted past.

Many people will assume Penelope is aimed at a younger audience but the comic value is gold and one that audiences of all ages can appreciate. It also contains a self-accepting and self-valuing message that we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

Samilia Ekeocha