Penelope

Penelope Wilhern, the daughter of a wealthy family, was born under a curse that left her with a pig's snout instead of a nose. According to family lore, the spell can only be broken if someone of noble background truly loves her and marries her. Her mother therefore parades a series of eligible suitors through the family estate, but each one flees at the sight of her face. Tired of being shut away, Penelope ventures out into the world, where her photograph ends up in the newspapers and turns her into a public spectacle.

The film is a comic fairy tale directed by Mark Palansky, who made his feature debut with it, working from a screenplay by Leslie Caveny. Christina Ricci plays Penelope, with James McAvoy as a man she meets, Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant as her parents, and Peter Dinklage as a reporter. Reese Witherspoon, one of the producers, also appears in a supporting role, and the credited cast numbers 39.

Made for about 15 million dollars, the film took roughly 21 million dollars worldwide, a modest return on its budget. Audiences have received it with moderate warmth: it holds a rating of 6.7 out of 10 on IMDb from around 69,000 votes and the same score on TMDB from a much smaller base of about 1,500 votes. Its place in Palansky's small filmography is as the first of two features he has directed.