A Pig Fairytale

Penelope
Penelope is a romantic-comedy-fantasy film directed by Mark Palansky and produced by Reese Witherspoon, who also stars in the film. Penelope's distributors were Summit Entertainment, Stone Village Pictures, and IFC Films. According to The Numbers, Penelope grossed a worldwide $17,199,163. When I first saw the previews for Penelope I thought it looked stupid and weird, but there was something about it that made me interested to watch it. So when it came out on DVD I got it. I was totally wrong about the film. It was really good! It was sweet, funny, and cute. It was also a perfect movie for children. There was very little to no cursing, no risqué scenes, and no vulgar images. It had one sweet kiss in the end, and that was all it needed. It was the perfect romantic-comedy!

A Fairytale
The Wilhern family has been cursed for ages. A long time ago, a witch placed a curse that would make the next girl born into the family to have the face of a pig. The only way to lift the curse is if one of her own loves her, which Penelope's family thinks means blueblood or a rich family. The whole family has been terrified ever since. When Penelope (Christina Ricci) was born with the curse, the media goes wild. Everyone is trying to get pictures of the pig baby. Penelope's parents fake her death and keeps her in their mansion where she entertains herself. Now, Penelope is twenty-five, and her parents are trying to get her to marry so the curse will be broken. But every man who sees her runs for their lives and never comes back. When Edward Vanderman (Simon Woods) is introduced to her, he too runs away only to report to the police and media that there is a horrible pig faced monster living in the Wilhern mansion. Vanderman and Lemon (Peter Dinklage), a news reporter, team up to try and get into the mansion to get a picture of Penelope. The accidentally mistake Johnny (James McAvoy) for the gambler and blueblood, Max Campion. Johnny, who is in need of some money, agrees to get a photo of her. When "Max" meets Penelope, he is shocked by her charm and decides not to help Lemon and Vanderman, but Penelope takes his actions to mean that he too is scared of her. She flees from her home and meets some people who aren't afraid of her. When Penelope comes out of hiding, the world embraces her. Everyone loves her. Vanderman's father incourages him to prospose so the won't be hated by his son's cruel words. Penelope agrees but later back out. As her mother tries to reason with her, Penelope says that she likes herself the way she is. Amazingly, her pig face disappears, and she becomes normal. She later becomes a teacher and horticulturiest. While at a costume party she meets Johnny, who is still unaware of her transformation. He begins to tell her that he was still in love with "this" girl but was unable to give her what she wanted, to be free. Penelope removes her mask, and she and Johnny live happily ever after.
The Cast
Penelope's cast was great! Christina Ricci did an amazing job as well as working with her pig nose. James McAvoy, Peter Dinklage, and Simon Woods also did a great job. Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant played Penelope's parents, while Reese Witherspoon, who produced the film, also made an appearance as on of Penelope's friends.