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Penelope is a winner, by a (pig’s) nose.

Hold the BLT, order up the winning romantic comedy-fantasy Penelope. This fairy tale about a young girl with a pig nose, it’s been on the shelf for nearly two years now and just now getting a wide release, but it’s worth the wait. Predictably sweet yet enjoyably original, it’s very busy and often too complicated to keep track of, but the message of acceptance is welcome for the Hannah Montana set.

Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) is a wealthy young lady born with an unfortunate curse of having a pig nose. One of her ancestors on her father’s side was prohibited from marrying his true love, a poor woman outside his social circle. The poor woman met an unfortunate fate and the woman’s mother, a witch, cast a curse on family – that the first Wilhern girl born will have a pig nose. After generations of boys are born to the Wilhern’s, Penelope becomes the first Wilhern girl and thus stuck with the curse. The only way it can be broken is through marrying someone “of her own kind.”

Her mother Jessica (Catherine O’Hara) brings through scads of rich young suitors, only to see them flee in horror at the sight of Penelope’s nose. When a tabloid reporter named Lemon (Peter Dinklage) learns of the family’s plans, he hires a poor gambler musician named Max (James McAvoy) to get a photo of the secretive Penelope. Max becomes enamored with Penelope but he can’t break the curse because he isn’t truly wealthy. Penelope leaves home one night in frustration with a scarf to cover her face, hoping to find true love and acceptance in a world that can be increasingly cruel. Though she finds a best friend in Annie (Reese Witherspoon), even after leaving home she finds that breaking the curse is literally right under her nose.

Penelope is an entertaining, well-acted and winning fantasy romance that finds acceptance through unconventional notions. It’s enjoyable throughout, and novice director Mark Palansky’s direction is serviceable, though the initial expositions are too leisurely and detailed. Penelope’s initial pacing problems may leave some younger viewers a little distracted but they’ll still find much to like with Ricci’s pig-like nose, which actually looks human in some shots.

In addition, Penelope’s script by Everybody’s Loves Raymond’s Leslie Caveny has too many details (in particular way too many characters) to keep track of for a film geared toward teenagers; however, its fresh, sweet message of acceptance rings true from the first frame, even down to its predictable, unsurprising finale.

The chief strength in Penelope come from it’s whimsical performances and comfortable chemistry with the romantic leads of Ricci and McAvoy (Atonement), displaying as much warm chemistry as McAvoy and his Atonement co-star Keira Knightly, just with a less serious tone. Ricci (Sleepy Hollow) tackles the role, pig snout and all, with natural aplomb; Ricci, an unconventional actress herself, is a perfect fit as Penelope. The shaggy-haired McAvoy is also solid, displaying an above-average American accent, though his style (black shirts, a fedora) is uniformly British.

Dinklage has low-key fun as reporter Lemon, but as Penelope’s overbearing mother, gifted comic actress O’Hara (from all those Christopher Guest films) is a mixed bag. Initially she’s exuberantly funny, but later on becomes tiresomely chatty and shrill, though that’s probably the point. When she’s literally silenced near the end of Penelope, you’ll be quite thankful. Also of note - this is not a Reese Witherspoon movie. Witherspoon, who also produced, has an extremely small, foolproof part designed to draw audiences to the film.

Penelope’s sets, special effects and costumes are colorful and unique (a couple of female friends at the screening especially admired the coat Ricci wore) giving flair to the proceedings. Penelope is also remarkably clean and suitable for everyone, a nice change of pace from the varied multiplex choices.

With that in mind, forget the BLT and make an enjoyably fresh decision in Penelope. It’s not perfect, but perfect enough to please the many young teenage girls who feel imperfect compared to Hannah Montana.

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