Film

Penelope

Cert: U

Description: Penelope is born into the wealthy Wilhern family with a piggish countenance - the family curse. Her well-to-do parents hide her from the cruel, unforgiving outside world, hoping to find an upper class bachelor to lead Penelope down the aisle and break the spell. Unfortunately, all likely candidates are repulsed by Penelope's appearance. When tabloid reporter Mr Lemon, who has been trying to get a photograph of Penelope for years, learns of her whereabouts, he hires down-on-his-luck blue blood Max to pose as a suitor and capture her grotesque likeness on hidden camera.

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Dir: Mark Palansky.

Cast: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Richard E Grant, Peter Dinklage, Reese Witherspoon

Country: UK.

Year: 2006.

Duration: 89mins

Did anybody read this script?

Cover up: Christina Ricci is the unfortunate girl

Sly and subtle take on family life

Slow boat through China

By Derek Malcolm
31 Jan 2008

How did good performers like Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O'Hara, Reese Witherspoon and Richard E.Grant get involved in this awful comedy about a heiress with a pig's nose? Didn't they read the script?

It's the film-making debut of Mark Palansky. But he'll have to do better next time round if he's to pursue a profitable career.

The unfortunate girl (Ricci) has the nose because of a family curse and can only get rid of it when she is loved.

So her parents (Grant and O'Hara) present her with a stream of chinless British blue-bloods enamoured of the dowry but eventually scared stiff of the nasal protuberance.

Then McAvoy comes along, hoping to take a photo of her for an inquisitive tabloid, and he finds himself drawn to the poor little rich girl.

Why both he and Grant have to sport American accents is a puzzle. But it looks as if the movie was made with Americans as well as Brits in mind. If that works, I'll eat my trousers.