Film Review: Penelope

Genre: 
Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Romantic Comedy


Interest Level:
Ages 10 and up

Rating
PG

Theme:
Self-acceptance, self-discovery, romance


Films with Similar Themes: 
Shrek, The Princess Diaries


Bibliographic Information:
Beutel-Arnold, C. (Producer), Curling, C. (Producer),  Greenspun, D. (Producer), Greenspun, R. (Producer), Molasky, A. (Producer), Roban, M. (Producer), Russell, D. (Producer) & Palansky, M. (Director) (2006). Penelope. [Motion Picture] United States: Summit Entertainment.

Plot: 
Penelope Wilhern is a young woman who at birth was cursed with the nose of a pig. Penelope comes from an aristocratic family and the only way for her curse to be broken is for someone of her own kind to accept her. Her mother, embarrassed by Penelope's nose, locks her away and refuses to let her go outside. She also arranges for rich and aristocratic young men to meet Penelope in the hopes that they will fall in love with her, marry her, and break the curse. Unfortunately every time the men see Penelope they become terrified and run away! One day Penelope meets a young man who she really starts to like, but when even he refuses to marry her she decides she's had enough and runs away from home. Her mother panics, more terrified that somebody will see her daughter's nose than for her daughter's safety, and starts to look for her. Meanwhile, the young man who rejected Penelope starts to have second thought and also goes looking for her. Will Penelope's mom find her and lock her away forever? Will the young man find her and finally break the curse? Will Penelope be doomed to have a pig nose forever, or will she finally find someone to accept her as one of their own kind?

Review:  
Penelope is an excellent film that teaches people to look inside themselves for inner-strength and self-confidence, a great lesson for many tweens who are struggling with the day to day issues of becoming older. Penelope, although in her twenties, is a great role model for tweens and shares many of the same problems that tweens do. She struggles to establish independence from her family and she struggles with with body image issues and self-esteem issues. She also begins to discover love for the first time. Penelope is a great role model for tweens because she is smart, independent, and eventually learns how to be self-confident and even how to like herself. The movie Penelope is a modern family tale that teaches us never to settle for less than ourselves, an important lesson for tweens especially to learn!