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Like many light romantic comedies, Penelope is not difficult to enjoy. Unfortunately, it's also not that easy to fully appreciate, either.

Penelope (Christina Ricci) is a young girl who was born with "the face of a pig," the result of an ancient curse put on one of her ancestors. Her parents (Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant), afraid that not only she but the whole family will be ridiculed if she is allowed outside, keep Penelope locked inside all day, waiting for a proper suitor to come along and break the curse. For years, however, every suitor has run screaming from the house on the first glimpse of Penelope's face.

Enter Max (James McAvoy), a not-as-suave-but-has-a-heart-of-gold suitor who actually doesn't run away when he sees Penelope's face. Max has also been hired by a sleazy tabloid photographer (Peter Dinklage), and when Penelope finds out that Max was just trying to get close to her to get pictures for a tabloid, she runs away, wanting to experience life for herself without her parents controlling everything and keeping her locked up.

Penelope doesn't break any new ground, and is best judged for what it is: A fluff romantic comedy. In that respect, it's serviceable, with Ricci and McAvoy turning in good performances as the two leads, Dinklage turning in a great performance, and Witherspoon not being near as bad as she could have been (Witherspoon also produced Penelope). While the acting might make the movie watchable, the ho-hum predictability of the story and the poor choice of music in parts of the film prevent Penelope from being anything more than an average movie.

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Copyright 2008 Benjamin Wood