Of Swords and Parasols

Around a century and change ago, Penelope Wilhelm’s great-great-something-grandfather had an affair with a maid. When his family objected, he dumped her, as was only proper. She committed suicide, as tends to happen. And so her mother, the local witch, laid a curse on the family that the next daughter born to the Wilhelm’s would have the face of a pig, the curse only to be broken when one of her own kind accepts her as she is.

Thankfully, the only Wilhelms born over the next few generations were sons. Until Penelope was born twenty-five years ago. Her mother, knowing her duty, his Penelope away from the world, even faking her death to get rd of the reporters, and gave Penelope everything she ever wanted. As long as she never stepped foot out of the house. And when Penelope turned 18, Mrs. Wilhelm decided that the only thing to do was to carefully screen all blueblooded young men she could, and try to find Penelope a husband. Too bad they all run away screaming when they see her nose.

But then one such suitor, after being labeled crazy by the press for reporting a pig woman to the police, joins forces with a reporter who lost an eye while trying to take pictures of an infant Penelope. And so they hire Max Campion, a blueblood who gambled away the family fortune, to court Penelope and take her picture so they can expose her to the world, creating a sequence of events leading to Penelope running away from home.

The movie is very charming, as are the characters, and it does a surprisingly good job of portraying the modern world as fairy tale-like. Christina Ricci was adorable as Penelope, and I liked that Penelope never had a problem with who she was, her problem was that other people had a problem with who she was, and that ended up ruling her life against her will. James McAvoy was charming as Max and cute with Ricci, but they seemed to be going a bit for the “angsty bad boy” thing with him, and that really doesn’t suit him. OTOH, Reese Witherspoon was amazing playing against type as Penelope’s rebel friend, and her scenes with “Scarfy” were some of the best in the movie.

( spoilers )

But was anyone else waiting for an explanation of why Max’s ears were always covered? I mean, he deliberated brushed his hair over his ears, never tucked it back, etc.