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Not being a " girly" movie fan by any means, I looked at Penelope as an ultimate challenge. Give me a German silent movie about vampires, no problem! But this is a movie about a girl, who is a wealthy heiress, and she can't find love because she has the typical nose-shaped-like-a-pig syndrome. Crap. This was going to be a rough hour and a half.
My foreshadowing skills, as well as my keen perception skills tell me that this movie will be one of those happily-ever after movies, where by the end of it, I will actually wish my only problem was that I had a pig nose that could be transformed by a kiss from Prince Charming. My fears do not stop there. I'm getting this strange vibe that I will have to relive those feelings from junior high. You know, the ones where there is that one part of your body, or maybe your whole body, that you just can't stand, and it keeps you from being the person that you actually are or could be. Somehow I feel like this may be a recurring theme throughout the movie.
After quite a lot of time wasted thinking about the film before actually watching it, I dove head first into this movie. The verdict: Not bad. In fact, I really did enjoy it. It could have been the fact that Catherine O'Hara was the mom (Waiting for Guffman anyone?) Or it could have been the funny one-eyed man with dwarfism. Whatever it was, Penelope captivated me, (I believe that is an official movie reviewers statement...it's almost mandatory to say something like that.) It's gritty and raw like the original Snow White. Ok. It's not so gory, like the Brother's Grimm fairy tale, where they talk of the queen consuming Snow White's lungs and livers, but it's not a Disney movie, either. So to sum up, it's real life.
With every fairy tale comes a standard lesson or lessons. In this fairy tale/ romantic comedy/ morally reflective movie, pick your category, a few life lessons to sum it up could be: "you shouldn't judge anyone by their outward appearance," or "true love conquers all", or possibly even "money isn't everything." But I think the best lesson is this: If you don't love yourself, no one will love you. Simple, profound, and the purest truth. It took Penelope twenty-five years to find this out; when will the rest of us?
Final Rating: Somewhere in between tolerable and inconceivable--I think I just formed a new category: Emerging.
Two movies down; 363 to go. The marathon continues!Tomorrow's movie: Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer. Be kind when reading and think only positive thoughts. Have a nice day.
Amber- Did you steal "emerging" from your school reading stadards? That is an IN. standard word, and it cracked me up when you used it. Haven't seen this movie...thought it looked stupid....but now I may just have to put it in my queue.
ReplyDeleteHa! That figures I would use a reading standard term. NO..in Illinois we just have average, above aveage, at risk...that sort of thing. Nothing too fancy. But def. watch it. It has your boy in it...The one from Atonement. James Macvoy.
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