| Penelope | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Mark Palansky |
| Produced by | Reese Witherspoon Scott Steindorff Dylan Russell Jennifer Simpson |
| Written by | Leslie Caveny |
| Starring | Christina Ricci James McAvoy Reese Witherspoon Catherine O'Hara Nick Frost Russell Brand |
| Music by | Joby Talbot |
| Cinematography | Michel Amathieu |
| Editing by | Jon Gregory |
| Studio | Stone Village Pictures Type A Films Grosvenor Park Productions Zephyr Films |
| Distributed by | Summit Entertainment (USA) Momentum Pictures (UK) |
| Release date(s) | September 8, 2006 (TIFF) February 1, 2008 (United Kingdom) February 29, 2008 (United States) |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[1] |
| Box office | $21,156,270[2] |
Penelope is a 2006 fantasy/romantic comedy film directed by Mark Palansky which was first released in 2006 as a premiere. It stars Christina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon.
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The movie Penelope follows a young woman who learns to be happy with who she is, regardless of her looks or who approves of her.
Penelope Wilhern is a young woman from a wealthy family with all the qualities to make an excellent match for any other well-bred man of her status. However, what sets her apart is that she has the nose and ears of a pig.
Generations ago, an embittered witch placed a curse on the Wilhern family because their son had impregnated her daughter, one of their servants. The son sought to marry her, but his family talked him out of it and married him off to another. The witch's daughter, overwrought, threw herself off a cliff. The witch cursed the Wilherns so that the next girl born into the clan would have the aspect of a pig. For five generations, only sons were born into the family, until Penelope was born, stricken with the curse. It is said that the curse can only be lifted if one of her own learns to love her, which is interpreted by her parents to mean a man of noble birth.
When a tabloid reporter named Lemon begins stalking the family to get a photograph of the infant Penelope, her parents, Jessica and Franklin, fake their daughter's death and cloister her away in their mansion, where Penelope spends her life immersing herself in intellectual pursuits such as literature, horticulture, and music. When Penelope becomes an adult, her parents attempt to introduce her to possible suitors, hoping that one of them will fall in love with her and break the curse. Unfortunately, every man who lays eyes on the girl takes flight at first sight, never to return, including Edward Humphrey Vanderman III, a spoiled, cruel-hearted snob who finds her repulsive.
Vanderman's panicked flight from the Wilhern house results in a newspaper article dubbing him unstable. To redeem his name, he teams up with Lemon and the team goes out to find someone who can get into the house for a picture. They mistakenly take Johnny Martin, an unrepentant gambler with a heavy heart, for a distantly blue-blooded Max Campion. Martin agrees to help Lemon and Vanderman snatch a photograph of Penelope for money. When "Max" meets Penelope, however, he is unexpectedly caught off guard by her disarming charm, and decides to renege on his agreement with Lemon and Vanderman, realizing that their attempt to exploit Penelope is repugnant. Penelope interprets Max's ambivalence to mean that he, too, finds her monstrous. She decides to flee the protection of her parents' home and journeys out into the city, naive and ignorant about the world. Having no money and seeing that Lemon and Vanderman are offering a reward for a photograph of her, she decides to collect on the reward by producing a photo of herself, essentially coming out of hiding to the public.
Penelope's courage in going out to the world then acts as an inspiration for Johnny who quits gambling and starts work in an old theatre.
Vanderman's father, seeing the public's fondness for Penelope and embarrassed by his son's vocal cruelty toward her, coerces Edward into proposing to her. Penelope nearly marries him, but backs out of the wedding at the last minute. When her mother urges her to marry him, lest she be forced to spend the rest of her life with her current appearance, Penelope becomes exasperated and says that she likes herself the way she is. As a result, Penelope breaks the curse, and her pig snout and ears disappear at last.
Penelope moves on with her life, becoming a horticulturist and teacher, the spectacle of her former appearance forgotten by the public. On the next Halloween, however, she often runs into people wearing masks of herself with a pig nose. At a Halloween costume party at which she wears a mask of her former face, she goes to find Johnny (who lives nearby), who, unaware of her transformation, apologizes for not being able to break her curse, although it is obvious he is still in love with her. After Penelope removes her mask and reveals that she had the power to break the curse all along, the two begin a romance.
The film ends with Johnny pushing Penelope on a swing after teaching a horticultural class. Lemon is about to take a picture from a nearby rowboat, but observes their happiness and decides to let his obsession go.
The production of Penelope started in 2006 in London. According to Internet Movie Database, it was filmed in the United Kingdom.[3] It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] It was also Reese Witherspoon's first film in a producing role along with a small acting role.
The film's screenplay was written by Leslie Caveny. A novelization of the film was written by Marilyn Kaye.[5] The plot draws on the traditional story of a cursed pig-faced woman.
The finished film was caught in limbo for over a year. Originally purchased by The Weinstein Company and IFC Films, it was removed from the release date schedule and eventually dropped by the two studios. Summit Entertainment eventually picked up United States distribution rights.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. As of February 29, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 52% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 125 reviews.[6] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 29 reviews — indicating mixed or average reviews. [7]
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.[8]
The film opened in ninth place and earned $3.8 million USD on its opening weekend in the United States.[9]
By October 5, 2008, the film had grossed $20.8 million worldwide—with $6.5 million in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta.[10]
Penelope was released 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. Also available was a Target exclusive edition which was a two disc deluxe edition set and exclusive tickets to see four Universal Studios films: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mamma Mia!, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Death Race.
Joby Talbot composed the music for the film. A soundtrack album was released.