A pig-faced fairytale comes to life
James McAvoy is starting to grow on me. The first two times I
saw him in a movie, he didn’t even register for me. He played Mr.
Tumnus, the faun, in
”
The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe
”
and had a bit part in
”
Wimbledon.
”
A pig-faced fairytale comes to life
James McAvoy is starting to grow on me. The first two times I saw him in a movie, he didn’t even register for me. He played Mr. Tumnus, the faun, in “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and had a bit part in “Wimbledon.”
But the Scottish- born actor came into his own in 2006 when he played Nicholas Garrigan in “The Last King of Scotland.” Garrigan is far from a likeable character as he is taken under the wing of the maniacal Idi Amin, the dictator of Uganda during the 1970s. While watching the movie, it made me want to scream at Garrigan for accepting money and fancy cars in exchange for ignoring obvious signs of genocide.
McAvoy then starred in “Becoming Jane,” as Jane Austen’s love interest and again he was a less than likeable character. He chooses money over love while pretending to be a principled man.
But in “Penelope,” McAvoy comes into his own as Max. The story is written by Leslie Caveny and it is a fairy tale meets the real world in the same way as “Enchanted.” But this movie is way edgier.
The Wilhern family is cursed when a great-great (great?) grandfather has an affair with a servant girl but then turns his back on her to marry someone of society. The girl’s mother happens to be the town witch and she curses the family. Every Wilhern daughter will have the face of a pig until she is accepted by one of her own kind – basically someone of upper society. The family is blessed with boys for several generations until finally a pig-faced girl comes along. And forget about plastic surgery – this pig snout has a main artery running right through it.
Penelope (Christina Ricci) has spent her life cloistered away in the family home by her mother Jessica (Catherin O’Hara) and her father Franklin (Richard E. Grant.) The only time she has outside company is when her mother and a matchmaker set her up with high society men who are interested in the sizeable dowry that comes with Penelope. But once each man catches a glimpse of the snout and folded-over ears, each one runs screaming from the house.
Max, however, is different. He is hired by a washed out journalist named Lemon (Peter Dinklage) who lost an eye and his career when he first caught a glimpse of Penelope as a baby. He didn’t get a picture and the family quickly covered up Penelope’s existence with a faked death. Lemon hears that Penelope may not have died as a baby when Edward Vanderman Jr. (Simon Woods), a potential suitor, tells the police of a monster with a pig nose and fangs living in the Wilhern house. Edward becomes the laughing stock as rumor spreads that he has had a nervous break down. Enter Max.
Lemon finds Max at a poker table just as he has played his last chip. He is a society man who has gambled away his fortune. He is unshaven and has bags under his eyes. Lemon offers him $5,000 to court Penelope long enough to get a picture of her to clear his and Edward’s names.
Penelope and Max meet behind a one-way mirror. She can see him, but he cannot see her. He is the first man who comes back for a second meeting. They talk about books, musical instruments and play chess together. When Max does finally see Penelope face to face, he doesn’t run like all the others – she does.
Ricci plays the part of Penelope perfectly. The character is soft spoken and has an air of innocence about her from being locked away from the world. She has a sharp wit and a deep understanding of people, though she still has trouble understanding herself. It doesn’t help that her mother Jessica has filled her head with the idea that she is hideous. Jessica wants only for her daughter to marry a high society man so that the girl will look normal and life can become normal for the family. O’Hara is the perfect overbearing, critical mother and Grant plays the submissive father well.
It takes a while, but Penelope eventually finds out what she wants for herself and that she doesn’t need anyone else to give it to her. And James McAvoy, finally gets to play the good guy who chooses love instead of the money this time around.
“Penelope” is playing in select theaters, including the Century Del Monte Center in Monterey and Century 20 Oakridge, in San Jose.
