Penelope (2006 film)

Penelope
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark Palansky
Written by	Leslie Caveny
Produced by	Reese Witherspoon Scott Steindorff Dylan Russell Jennifer Simpson
Starring	Christina Ricci James McAvoy Catherine O'Hara Peter Dinklage Richard E. Grant Reese Witherspoon
Cinematography	Michel Amathieu
Edited by	Jon Gregory
Music by	Joby Talbot
Production companies	Stone Village Pictures Type A Films Grosvenor Park Productions Tatira Active Film Zephyr Films
Distributed by	Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom) Summit Entertainment (United States)
Release dates	September 8, 2006 (2006-09-08) (TIFF) February 1, 2008 (2008-02-01) (United Kingdom) February 29, 2008 (2008-02-29) (United States)
Running time	104 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$21.2 million

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 (who also produced the film). The film tells the story of an ugly young heiress named Penelope Wilhern, who had been born with the snout of a pig due to a curse that was placed on her family by a vengeful witch, believing the only way to break the curse was to find someone who truly loved her.

Plot

Many years ago a servant woman, Clara, falls in love with a wealthy blue blood, Ralph Wilhern, and later becomes pregnant with his child. However, his family disapproves of Ralph's intent to marry her. At the urging of his parents, Ralph marries another woman. Clara, distraught, commits suicide by jumping off a cliff. Enraged, Clara's mother, the town witch, places a curse on the Wilhern bloodline; the next daughter to be born will have the face of a pig, and the only way the curse may be broken is when "one of her own kind" learns to love her. For generations, only sons are born into the family until the birth of Franklin and Jessica Wilhern's daughter, Penelope. Ashamed of her daughter's face, Jessica claims Penelope died as an infant and shuts her away in their mansion. Penelope turns eighteen, and her parents begin attempting to seek suitors, believing the love of another blue blood is the way to break the curse.

Seven years pass, and all of the suitors have fled in terror upon seeing Penelope's true face, including Edward Humphrey Vanderman III. Conspiring with tabloid reporter, Lemon, in order to photograph Penelope to prove her existence, Vanderman pays a supposed young blue blood, Max Campion, to pose as a new suitor for Penelope, hiding a camera in his jacket. After having conversations through a one-way mirror, Max and Penelope develop genuine feelings for each other; however, when Max sees her face, he is shocked—but not frightened—and accidentally triggers the camera. Regretful about his attempts to exploit Penelope, Max calls off his agreement with Lemon and Vanderman—though Jessica and the matchmaker Wanda catch him doing so—and destroys the camera. Penelope begs him to marry her, promising it will lift the curse, but Max declines.

Tired of the match-making and inspired by Max's conversations about the outside world, Penelope runs away from her home and journeys out into the city, selling photos of herself to Lemon while covering her nose with a scarf in public to keep anonymous. She is spotted by her parents and runs back to the bar she frequents, before passing out, leading her friend Annie to remove the scarf and reveal her as the supposedly dead Penelope Wilhern to the other guests. Penelope becomes an overnight celebrity, gaining adoring fans who are not disgusted by her face.

Meanwhile, Edward’s father, having seen the public's fondness for Penelope and embarrassed by his son's vocal cruelty toward her, coerces Edward into proposing to her. Lemon eventually discovers that the real Max Campion is imprisoned for armed robbery, while the Campion they have been working with is actually a man named Johnny Martin, who Lemon had mistaken for Max when the table that Johnny was also at was pointed out to him. Lemon reveals this information to Jessica and Wanda, but Jessica decides to not let Penelope know the truth, believing that Johnny would not be able to break the curse, as he isn't truly a "blue blood." During her and Edward's wedding, Penelope realizes that she does not want to marry simply to break the curse and that she likes herself the way she is. This breaks the curse, as Penelope has been loved by "one of her own kind" – herself – and her pig snout and ears disappear.

Sometime later, Penelope becomes an elementary school horticulture teacher, and the public's interest in her fades. She eventually learns the truth about Johnny from Wanda. She reunites with Johnny, who was unaware that the curse was broken, at a Halloween party while wearing a pig mask—as many partygoers were also wearing. Johnny kisses Penelope, and she takes off her mask, revealing to him that she had the power to lift her curse all along.

The Wilhern butler, Jake, is revealed to be the witch who cast the original curse and casts one final spell to render Jessica mute for "a while," before quitting his position. While Johnny and Penelope are at a park, Lemon discreetly approaches the two and attempts to take a photo to prove that Penelope's curse has been lifted but ultimately decides against it upon seeing how happy they are and leaves them alone.

Cast

• Christina Ricci as Penelope Wilhern, an ugly young heiress who was born with the face of a pig
  • Andi-Marie Townsend portrays a younger Penelope Wilhern
• James McAvoy as John "Johnny" Martin, a man who uses the alias of "Max Campion" and Penelope’s love interest.
• Nick Frost plays the real Max Campion, a man who was cut off from his family due to his gambling problems
• Catherine O'Hara as Jessica Wilhern, the mother of Penelope
• Peter Dinklage as Lemon, a tabloid reporter who plans to reveal Penelope's existence
• Richard E. Grant as Franklin Wilhern, the father of Penelope
• Reese Witherspoon as Annie, a delivery girl who befriends Penelope
• Ronni Ancona as Wanda, a matchmaker
• Simon Woods as Edward Humphrey Vanderman III, a former suitor of Penelope who allies with Lemon
• Nigel Havers as Edward Vanderman II, the father of Edward Vanderman III
• Burn Gorman as Larry
• Russell Brand as Sam
• John Voce as Duty Cop
• Lenny Henry as Krull
• Richard Leaf as Jack, the bartender of a bar which is frequented by Annie
• Michael Feast as Jake, a butler who works for the Wilhern family
  • Michael Feast also portrays the true form of the Witch who cursed the Wilhern family

Background and production

The production of Penelope started in January 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.

Reception

Critical response

Critics gave mixed reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film 53% based on 128 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 DVD and Blu-Ray 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 full 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.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Story of the Curse, Part 1 by Joby Talbot"	3:57
2.	"The Story of the Curse, Part 2 by Joby Talbot"	4:58
3.	"Waking Life" by Schuyler Fisk"	4:07
4.	""The Piano Song" by Meiko"	2:46
5.	""Penelope Breaks Free" by Joby Talbot"	1:58
6.	""Fairground" by Joby Talbot"	1:31
7.	""Give In" by The Secret 6"	4:46
8.	""Queen of Surface Streets" by DeVotchKa"	5:26
9.	""String of Blinking Lights" by Paper Moon"	4:18
10.	""The Wedding" by Joby Talbot"	4:03
11.	""Ageless Beauty" by Stars"	4:05
12.	""The Kiss" by Joby Talbot"	4:22
13.	""Hoppípolla" by Sigur Rós"	4:15
14.	""Your Disguise" by James Greenspun"	3:09

External links

• Official website
• Penelope at IMDb
• Penelope at AllMovie
• Penelope at the TCM Movie Database
• Penelope at Box Office Mojo