''Penelope'' is a 2006

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Mark Palansky Mark Palansky is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He got his start working as an assistant director on titan film productions such as ''Armageddon'' and ''Pearl Harbor''. He then worked as a second unit director on '' The Island'' and ' ...

and starring

Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge. Ricci works mostly in Independent film, independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is ...

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor and director. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work inclu ...

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...

Peter Dinklage Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American actor. Portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), Dinklage won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama S ...

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is an Eswatini-born English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack H ...

, and

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

(who also produced the film). The film tells the story of a young heiress named Penelope Wilhern, who had been born with the snout of a

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

due to a

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

that was placed on her family by a vengeful

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

, believing the only way to break the curse was to find someone who truly loved her.

Plot

Years before the events of the film,

servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

woman Clara falls in love with wealthy blue blood Ralph Wilhern and becomes pregnant with his child. However, at the urging of his disapproving parents, Ralph marries another woman, leading a heartbroken Clara to die by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by jumping off a cliff. Her enraged mother, the town

, places a

on the Wilhern bloodline; the next Wilhern daughter will be born with the face of a

, only to become human when "one of her own kind" learns to love her. However, the Wilherns only give birth to sons for five generations until the birth of Franklin and Jessica Wilhern's child, Penelope. Ashamed of her daughter's face and afraid of a media

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

, Jessica claims that Penelope died as an infant and hides her away in their

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

. After Penelope's eighteenth birthday, Jessica hires a matchmaker, Wanda, and begins seeking out suitors, believing the love of another blue blood is the only way to lift the curse. Seven years later, all of Penelope's suitors have fled in terror upon seeing her face, including Edward Humphrey Vanderman III. Edward conspires with tabloid reporter Lemon to photograph Penelope to prove her existence and hires young blue blood Max Campion to pose as a new suitor, planting a camera in his jacket. After having conversations through a

one-way mirror A one-way mirror, also called two-way mirror (or one-way glass, half-silvered mirror, and semi-transparent mirror), is a reciprocal mirror that appears reflective from one side and transparent from the other though this is an illusion and would ...

, Max and Penelope develop genuine feelings for each other. When Max sees her face, he is shocked — but not frightened — and accidentally triggers the camera. Regretful of his attempts to exploit Penelope, Max calls off his agreement with Lemon and Edward and destroys the camera. Penelope begs him to marry her, promising it will lift the curse, but Max declines. Tired of the matchmaking and inspired by Max's conversations about the outside world, Penelope escapes and journeys out into the city. She covers her face with a scarf in public to keep anonymous, secretly selling photos of herself to Lemon to earn money. At a local bar she frequents, she befriends delivery girl Annie, who takes her on trips around the city. After several weeks, Penelope is spotted by her parents, but rushes back to the bar before they can confront her, where she faints. Annie removes the scarf to help her breathe and exposes her as the supposedly dead Penelope Wilhern to the other bar patrons. Much to Penelope's surprise, the public is fascinated and enamored with her face, and she becomes an overnight celebrity. 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 discovers that the real Max Campion is imprisoned for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

; the man he had been working with is actually a

gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

named Johnny Martin, whom Lemon had mistaken for Max. Lemon shares this with Jessica and Wanda on Penelope's wedding day, but Jessica decides to not relay it to Penelope. At her wedding, Penelope realizes that she does not want to marry simply to break the curse. She flees from the altar, locks herself in her room, and declares that she likes herself the way she is. As Penelope has finally been loved by "one of her own kind" — herself — the curse is lifted, and her pig snout and ears disappear. Some time later, Penelope becomes an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

teacher, and the public's interest in her has begun to wane. She eventually learns the truth about Johnny's identity from Wanda and visits his

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

during a

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

party while wearing a pig mask. Johnny kisses Penelope and apologizes for not having the power to break the curse, but she takes off her mask and reveals that she held the power all along. The Wilhern's

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

Jake, revealed to be the witch who cast the original curse, casts one final spell to render Jessica mute for an indeterminate amount of time before quitting his position. While Johnny and Penelope are at a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

with her students, Lemon discreetly approaches and tries to take a photo of them to prove that the curse has been lifted. Upon seeing how happy the couple is, he ultimately decides against it and leaves.

Cast

as Penelope Wilhern, a young heiress who was born with the face of a pig ** Andi-Marie Townsend portrays a younger Penelope Wilhern *

as John "Johnny" Martin, a man who uses the alias of "Max Campion" who is Penelope’s love interest. *

Nick Frost Nicholas John Frost (born 28 March 1972) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared in the '' Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), and '' The World's ...

plays the real Max Campion, a man who was cut off from his family due to his gambling problems *

as Jessica Wilhern, the mother of Penelope *

as Lemon, a tabloid reporter who plans to reveal Penelope's existence *

as Franklin Wilhern, the father of Penelope *

as Annie, a delivery girl who befriends Penelope *

Ronni Ancona Veronica Jane Ancona (born 4 July 1966) is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for '' The Big Impression'', which she co-wrote and starred in and was, for four years, one of BBC One's top-rated comedy programmes, win ...

as Wanda, a matchmaker *

Simon Woods Simon Woods (born 7 January 1980) is an English actor and playwright best known for his role as Octavian in Season 2 of the British-American television series ''Rome'' and the 2005 '' Pride & Prejudice'' as Charles Bingley. Personal life Woo ...

as Edward Humphrey Vanderman III, a former suitor of Penelope who allies with Lemon *

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor and presenter. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielb ...

as Edward Vanderman II, the father of Edward Vanderman III *

Burn Gorman Burn Hugh Gorman (born 1 September 1974) is an English actor. He is known for his television roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series ''Torchwood'' (2006–2008), Karl Tanner in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2013–14), Major Edmund Hewle ...

as Larry *

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

as Sam *

John Voce John Voce (born 7 January 1963) is an English actor. He has portrayed William Kempe in the period drama '' A Waste of Shame'' (2005) and the recurring character Tim Parker in '' Primeval'' (2007). He has also appeared in the 2001 film ''Crush ...

as Duty Cop *

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

as Krull *

Richard Leaf Richard Leaf (born 1 January 1967) is an English actor. He has had several small parts in television and stage productions. Leaf met actress Tamsin Greig at a wrap party after Neil Gaiman's 1996 miniseries ''Neverwhere'' finished recording. Th ...

as Jack, the bartender of a bar which is frequented by Annie *

Michael Feast Michael Feast (born 25 November 1946) is an English actor of stage and screen. Early life Feast was born in Brighton, and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Career He performed in the original 1968 London production of ''Hair ...

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 London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. The film's screenplay was written by

Leslie Caveny Leslie Caveny is an American film and television writer and producer. Caveny was a staff writer and producer for ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' for several years in which she shared the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. She later ...

. A novelization of the film was written by Marilyn Kaye. It premiered at the

2006 Toronto International Film Festival The 31st Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's '' The Journals of Knud Rasmussen'', a film that "explores the history of the through the eyes of ...

. It was also

's first film in a producing role along with a small acting role. Shortly after,

IFC Films Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent fil ...

acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, with

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company, LLC (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein on March 10, 2005. TWC was one of the larg ...

handling the home media and television distribution, with a planned mid-2007 release.

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment, LLC (formerly the Summit Group, Summit Export Group, Summit Entertainment Group Inc., Summit Entertainment Limited, Summit Films Limited, and Summit Entertainment N.V.) is an American film production label of Lionsgate Film ...

eventually picked up United States distribution rights.

Reception

Critical response

Critics gave mixed reviews. Review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

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 Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

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 The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. It was also shown at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in May 2007. The film opened in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

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 The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

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 The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on July 15, 2008 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

film ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' 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 Joby Talbot (born 25 August 1971) is a British composer. He has written for a wide variety of purposes, with a broad range of styles, including instrumental and vocal concert music, film and television scores, pop arrangements and works for dan ...

composed the music for the film. A soundtrack album was released.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 2006 films British romantic comedy films British fantasy films 2006 romantic comedy films American fantasy comedy films American romantic comedy films Films about dysfunctional families Films about human rights Films directed by Mark Palansky American independent films Summit Entertainment films Films shot at Pinewood Studios British independent films Love stories Films about curses Films based on European myths and legends Films produced by Reese Witherspoon Films shot in London Films set in London Films about missing people Magic realism films Pig-faced women Films about witchcraft 2006 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s British films English-language romantic comedy films