DVD Review: Penelope
Penelope
Directed by: Mark Palansky
Starring: Cristina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, Catherine O’Hara, James McEvoy
Rated: PG
DVD Release date: July 15, 2008
Penelope is a modern romantic fairy tale starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O’hara, and Reese Witherspoone about a young aristocratic heiress born with a curse. Her family had been cursed generations before by a witch whose servant daughter had been scorned and driven to suicide by one of the family.
Penelope (Ricci) is the first daughter to be born to the wealthy Wilhern family and she is cursed with the nose of a pig that will only be broken when she is loved by “one of her own kind”. She is kept locked away in the mansion with only books and toys for company. When she is old enough, her mother (O’hara) and father arrange for a number of blue blood suiters to come to the house and court Penelope. However they all run in terror when they meet her face to face. Until Max (McAvoy) shows up. He is the handsome suitor who brings hope to Penelope and her family. But there’s more than meets the eye with Max. He is in fact a down and out aristocrat with a gambling problem who was hired by a journalist (Peter Dinklage) who is bent on getting a photo of the Wilhern’s assumed dead daughter.
This all starts a heart-felt fairy tale with a few twists and turns that will entertain and delight viewers. The DVD also includes a sneak peak to the much anticipated movie Twilight that hits theaters December 12. Thanks to this, I now know who Edward Cullen is…
I definitely recommend this movie. It’s a timeless story that I will never tire of watching over and over again. It may be viewed simply as a chick flick but I urge you guys to see it anyway, you might be surprised. 
