Welcome to a sweet, quirky and fun fairy tale:

One of Penelope’s dad’s ancestors has slept with a maid and then left the girl. This ends up in the girl’s suicide. Her mother happens to be witch and puts a spell upon the family. According to the curse, the first daughter born into the family is going to be awfully ugly: a girl with a pig’s nose and ears. The spell somehow ends up affecting poor Penelope. In order for the spell/curse to be lifted, a guy from a certain bloodline should fall in love with her, even after he has seen her face.

Penelope (Christina Ricci) can’t go outside for years, according to her mom’s wishes. The press has believed her to be dead. She has gotten sick of it all, especially of men who gets the shock of their lives after they have see her. One day, things get out of Penelope’s mom’s (Catherine O’ Hara) control: A discredited heir (Simon Woods) decides to prove to the whole world what Penelope really looks like. With the help of a journalist in need of revenge, he hires a gambler (James McAvoy) to help them expose the secret. However the gambler gets to know Penelope without seeing her face first and he really likes her. But when he does see her and Penelope makes an unexpected offer, he runs away. Penelope misreads his reaction,and having had enough rebels and just ventures out into the real world. This new adventure will help make new friends (one played by Reese Witherspoon), and figure out who she really is.

Penelope is a lovely and interesting mixture of reality and fairy tale. After all we have rich vs poor, gambling, prejudice,”importance” of looks, superficiality, true love, friendship and coming to terms with who you are and how you look. So watching Christina with her special “make-up” may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you can get past how she looks, you are in for a real treat. A wonderful comedy-romance with supernatural elements.

Voted 7.1 on IMDB by over 15.000 people. I agree with the rating.

P.S. If you have seen Simon Woods as Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice, you will have a real riot comparing his two opposite roles.

Also on Christina Ricci:

Cursed starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson & Jesse Eisenberg

Cursed Trivia feat. Christina R?cci, Portia de Rossi and more