Noel-

Penelope (Christina Ricci) is a simple tale, but one with a big meaning behind it. A long time ago, Penelope’s uncle was madly in love with a girl who just happened to be his family’s servant girl. When he told his family of his undying love for her, all he got in return was laughter and ridicule. So, doing as his family wished, he married a blueblood (wealthy person); this lead to his love taking her own life and the life of their unborn child by jumping off of a cliff. The mother of the girl just happened to be a witch and put a curse on the family that would lead to the first born daughter to have the face of a pig; thus we have Penelope. Penelope’s parents (or should I say mother) went to the extreme and faked her death as a baby in order to hide her from everyone. This worked fine until Penelope came to courting age and they had to find her a husband and a way to break the curse. The only supposed way to break the curse was for her to marry someone of the same statue as her i.e. blueblood. As the story unfolds, Penelope eventually learns that it’s not the fact that she has to marry someone of wealth but instead to break the curse she has to learn to love herself the way she is, pig face and all. Once she does this, her curse is broken. Now I personally think the curse should have been on her mother. You’ll see why if you watch it and unfortunately it seems that her mother didn’t really learn anything from the curse. This is a great movie for young girls and any woman, especially in the kind of world we live in today where everything is based on appearances; it’s nice to see a movie that tries to counteract that. 3 paws

Keith-

Chock one up for the family films with Penelope. Penelope is a fun fairytale time that most of the family will enjoy. An ancient curse, pig nose and ears on a little girl and one obnoxious mother to boot, and you have a decent recipe for some laughs. Christina Ricci, who plays Penelope, keeps doing a great job in unusual and tough roles. She portrays innocence that allows her to play roles like this and a rough side that allowed her to play the incredibly tough role in Black Snake Moan (one of my favorites). Give Penelope a chance and you might not be disappointed. It comes with the universal principle that you can’t look to others for self worth, you have to accept and be happy with yourself first. I hope Ricci keeps perfecting her craft because there are so few like her on the screen today. 3 paws