Cast: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Richard E.Grant, Catherine O'Hara and Reese Witherspoon Dir: Mark Palansky Rating: 4/5
Penelope, played by Christina Ricci, begins with a generations-old curse by a jilted lover: the next girl in the aristocratic Wilhern family will be born with a pig's snout and ears.
Though ages pass, the bad luck finally manifests itself in the young girl, much to the shame of her mother (Catherine O'Hara).
In an effort to break the curse, her mother and father (Richard E. Grant, Witnail and I) try to bring in a series of blue-blooded suitors. But when they see her face, the men all run screaming.
Enter Max (James McAvoy), a down-on-his-luck gambler who connects with Penelope. But when he is exposed as a fraud, the heartbroken girl escapes into the surrounding city.
Despite hiding her face with a scarf Penelope experiences, for the first time life away from her parents mansion where she has been kept hidden all her life.
In a society that is so driven by the way we look and the way that others perceive us Penelope is a wonderful modern day fairytale about a heroine who learns to love herself for who she is rather than what she looks like.
Christina Ricci, who is better known for her more quirky off centre roles, goes a little more mainstream with this picture and is perfect as the innocent Penelope who moves from naivety to independence throughout the course of the film.
And Catherine O'Hara is the laugh out loud pushy mother so desperate for her daughter to be beautiful and fit in and is perfectly cast.
There are some wonderful cameos with Ronni Ancona, Lenny Henry and Nick Frost all popping up for minor roles. However it's Reese Witherspoon, who plays a bigger part as producer, that produces a great support role as Anne, a free-spirited woman who encourages Penelope to come out of hiding and be her true self.
Despite all of this it is James McAvoy, hot off the heels of his critically acclaimed role in Atonement, who will steal hearts as Max, the man who sees Penelope for who she really is.
Director Mark Palansky does well in creating the brightly coloured setting, which wouldn't have looked out of place in the recent Pushing Daises.
Many will compare this with the likes of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands and perhaps in his hands the film would have been given a more defining sense of being a fairytale.
Despite this Penelope is a modern and funny re-telling of the ugly duckling story with great performances from all the cast, even if none of them are stretched, that sends out a much needed positive message to young girls.
Penelope is out on DVD now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw