Miss Piggy

>> Christina Ricci plays a deformed,
love-starved aristocrat in the flat Penelope

by MATTHEW HAYS

Indie film goddess Christina Ricci can always be relied on for taking risks, one of the qualities that so often makes a film bearing her name worth seeing. But for every Monster, Ice Storm or Opposite of Sex, there’s a dud like 200 Cigarettes, Cursed or Anything Else. Venturing to one of her films is the movie-going equivalent of Russian Roulette.

Propped somewhere in between the two extremes is Penelope, a semi-sweet, well-meaning comedy that’s part romcom, part nostalgia-drenched fairy tale. Due to a vicious curse placed by a witch, Ricci is stuck with a pig nose. Her parents—in particular, her mother, played brilliantly by Catherine O’Hara—are horrified, wanting nothing more than for their beloved daughter to find Mr. Right. If she does, the pig-nose curse will be lifted.

Being set in London means that Penelope’s strange story—cursed, hideously disfigured woman is hidden away by filthy rich parents in a fortress of sorts—has become the target of the tabloid press, who want to get exclusive photos of this damsel in distress. This supplies the film’s narrative thrust, and is also supposed to inject the thrill of the chase into the mix.

The idea behind Penelope seems fun enough. Create a composite fable and/or fairy tale, with a poor ugly protagonist who learns that, indeed, some people can look beyond the pig-nose on their face and see their inner beauty. It’s a bit of Cyrano de Bergerac, a bit of The Beauty and the Beast, but this time with a woman who’s cursed with a bad case of the uglies. We’ve seen men have to deal with abject bad looks many times, with lady friends having to get over the aesthetic obstacles. Having a woman fill the role this time around presents something of a switcheroo.

But this light, whimsical movie feels mighty flat. Things meander along at a deadening pace, making the viewer long for some mass carnage, a catastrophe or some apocalyptic destruction—you know, typical Hollywood plot twists—to show up and conjure up some intrigue.

Alas, Penelope simply stumbles, ultimately falling into the “Largely Forgettable” category on Ricci’s C.V. Note to fans of the talented actor: better luck next time.

Penelope opens
Friday, Feb. 29

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