Customer Reviews
An older fairy tale than you might think - By: Seren Ade, 19 Nov 2008 
The tale of 'Penelope' is an interesting modern twist on fairy story romances... with an emphasis on 'noses' rather than 'tails', as the title character (the first-born femalein her bloodline since an ancestor betrayed a witch's kin) is the luckless recipient of a generations-old curse: & has the snout of a pigin place of a nose. To break the curse upon herself, Penelope must find & marry a blue-blood. But, much to her parents' consternation, Penelope - who, because of her deformity, has been hidden away from the world for her whole life - is more interestedin forming friendships than she isin breaking the curse.
When a con-man turned suitor (McAvoyin dishevelled splendour) breaks her heart, Penelope sets out to discover the world for herself.
This is a charming film, with endearing performances from Christina Ricci, James McAvoy & Reese Witherspoon (as Penelope's friendin exile). However, although it is pitched as a fairy tale story & has a PG rating (and certainly doesn't merit anything morein regards to content), 'Penelope' is not ideal for the 6-10 year old audience I bought it for after seeing it advertised. I thought the film, though slow-moving & at times quite sophisticated (e.g.in some scenes 'Penelope' is shown implicitly getting rapidly drunkin a bar... using a straw under her face-concealing scarf) was enjoyable, but aimed more at over 10's/teenagers than younger kids.
This one GROWS on you. - By: Mr. R. P. Quinlan, 21 Aug 2008 
For some time (almost 2 years) I have known about, & waited patiently for this Reese Witherspoon production; wondering if it ever would come to fruition on DVDin the U.K. On 12th August, I found itin a local Super-Market, & bought my copy there & then.
I have to say that my first thoughts when I watched it for the fist time were not very complementary. But, unusually for me after such thoughts, I let the film continue, watching it to the Happy Ending that it duly deserved. As I watched that first time, the film slowly "GREW ON ME", to the point where I couldn't walk away & forget it; I just HAD TO WATCH TO THE END.
It's a fable about a young (25-year-old) woman, Penelope, played by Christina Ricci (who I had never heard of until I watched this movie), bourne, under an ancient family curse, with a pig's snout for a nose: whoes potential Suiters all seem to have a great pair of legs for running away from her the moment she shows herself to them. All, that is, except one: a gambler employed by a news reporter to get a photograph of Penelope. After several visits to Penelope's home, the photograph is taken: but our gambling friend has, by then, fallen hopelesslyin love with Penelope, & destroys the picture rather than have it published.
Penelope pleads with the gambler to marry her, promissing to kill herself if the curse is not broken. But her pleading is rejected, as the gambler knows he does not have the power to break the curse. After this, Penelope escapes the house that has been her prison, runs off to town where she meets & becomes great friends with Annie (Reese Witherspoon); but meets up, too, with the man she knows as Max, the gambler who rejected her. Max is also on hand when Penelope becomes engaged to marry the one person who has started all the bad publicityin the news-papers about her: something Max tries to put a stop to.
This film "GREW ON ME" as I watched it that first time; & has become a Nightly show for me now. I'm a succer for a good Rom-Com or Romantic Adventure: & this is Romantic Adventure AT IT ULTIMATE BEST.
Forget the SNOUT Miss Ricci carries for the majority of this movie. Just enjoy HER BEAUTY, some GREAT Acting by the entire cast, & what I like to think of as "A ROLLICKING GOOD YARN". Get to see this movie (only available on DVD). YOU'LL LOVE IT!
Sweet fairy tale - great performances from a talented cast - By: Louise Amkaer, 18 Jul 2008 "Penelope" is the story of a high society girl, born with a pig's snout due to a curse. She is kept isolated by her excentric mother, who desperately tries to break the curse by finding a blue blood suitor for Penelope. This isn't easy, every man runs away after seeing Penelope's snout, until Max that is. Penelope & Max hit it off, but Max will not marry Penelope. After this rejection, Penelope breaks free into the world & goes exploring - & much follows...
"Penelope" is a sweet, little fairy tale about accepting yourself despite your pig's snout. The movie feature excellent actors & magnificant performances from all of them. The dialogue is rich & humorous. Allin all, "Penelope" is the kind of movie that makes you sigh & smile & the kind of movie that will remain on my dvd-shelf for a long time & be watched again & again.
Louise
sweet - By: Ms. F. I. Macdonald, 18 Jun 2008 what a nice, adorable film, i certainly enjoyed this very much. I thought the cast was great, the story was great & the motto was great!!brill film which can be enjoyed again & again!!
All star romantic comedy - By: TCJOHNSTON, 16 Jun 2008 This is a really lovely story - it's a bit of a fairy tale but is really bought to life by the all-star castin this movie. Excellent lead-role by Chritina Ricci, & not what you'd normally expect from Reese Witherspoon either! Some sad parts, but mostly very funny & very moving - I dont want to give the story away as this one is definitely worth the watch, but there's some good little twistsin here & the breaking of the curse comesin one of the most unexpected places so that once you've seen it you'll be thinking "why didnt I think of that" - very clever. I'll definitely watch again & perhaps even buy this one!
