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Cyrano de Bergerac by another name

First-time filmmaker Mark Palanski created a madcap style to present this fantasy remake about an aristocratic young woman, Penelope, who was cursed and born with a pig nose. Palanski used an effective backstory technique of developing the characters through flashback sequences to establish their respective motivations. It’s a whimsical tale of a young woman who must overcome her poor self image. The curse can only be lifted if someone of her status falls in love with her just as she is, and looks beyond her pig nose into her soul.
Christina Ricci deftly portrays Penelope with impish charm. Her hysterical mother, Jessica Willhern, is played with glorious comedic flamboyance by Catherine O’Hara, who was horrified when her little piggy was born and has hidden her away from the public. But now, Penelope wants her freedom and is tired of her mother offering money to suitors to marry her, only to watch them run screaming from the house once they see her.
James McAvoy (Atonement) plays Max, who has a gambling addiction and is always up for some scam to raise money so he can go gamble it away. He meets Penelope as part of a scheme to take her picture using a hidden camera so that two con men can make money off her image. But he likes her and is not repulsed by her nose. In fact, he has trouble fulfilling his mission to take the photos. He sees that there are many people would exploit her as a freak.
Palanski and screenwriter Leslie Caveny create a Tim Burton-esque mosaic to give Ricci a rich setting with which to work her magic. The cast takes this free spirited setting and runs with it to create the off-kilter feel of the scenes. Simon Woods plays a big-business tycoon, Edward Vanderman. He is shocked and dismayed by seeing little Miss Piggy and wants to have her locked up for the common good. He has teamed up with a reporter, one-eyed dwarf Lemon (Peter Dinklage), to get the tabloid photos of Penelope. Of course the plot backfires when Max is smitten by Penelope’s sweet innocence.
Penelope finally musters the courage to break away from her overbearing mother and goes out into the world beyond her mansion. There at a bar, she meets a friend, Annie (Reese Witherspoon, also executive producer of the film) and for the first time in her life she is living independently in a hotel room, using a scarf to hide her odd protuberance. The bright lights of the big city mesmerize her. Eventually her secret gets out, and the paparazzi swarm in to expose the pig girl. Suddenly, Penelope becomes a celebrity.
This fable is an object lesson for young girls that teaches them they can be accepted in society no matter what they look like, and sometimes the very thing that they were ashamed of becomes an asset. The entire population of Great Britain falls in love with Penelope.
Meanwhile, Max is ashamed of his involvement in the scam to get Penelope’s picture. And through various circumstances and supernatural events he gets a second change to make it up to her. Once Penelope’s secret is out, she begins to love herself. Her acceptance of her odd looks is a significant happening in the story.
The picture is entertaining and funny for adults and teenage girls. In a time when eating disorders and depression are epidemic in America’s young women, this film presents ways young females can gain acceptance and develop a positive self-image, without being preachy. Negative cultural programming is rampant in the magazine images and television stereotypes. This film shows that young girls can conquer their negative self image, emerging as a butterfly.