Movie Review: My Penguin Friend

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent family film. 

This is a delightfully old-fashioned movie that reminds me very much of the live action Disney films from the 1960's and 70's. This is such a sweet, unpretentious and utterly charming film. It has no desire to be anything more than a heartwarming feel-good movie and it works very well as such. This is a wonderful example of how sometimes a simple story being simply told is exactly what many movie goers need. Without a single mean or cynical bone in its body, it is hard not to get completely swept up in the sincerity behind this movie's sweetness. The friendship between our main human character (played marvelously by Jean Reno (one of the best working character actors today)) and the penguin DinDim is truly heartwarming and completely believable. We grow to care about both of them so much over the course of this film and when they reunite it truly warms our heart. The small town that this movie takes place in is just as much a character as either of them. This is the type of small town that we all would love to live in and thanks to this film we get the chance to live there for a brief time. We are truly transported to this town, and this helps make this film so much more effective than the average feel-good movie. 

This is also a very technically well-made movie. This film was directed by David Schurmann, who has made various documentaries. He brings this experience to good use here, helping give the whole film a great sense of authenticity. There are also some clever filmmaking touches throughout. The best of which are when we get to see certain scenes from DinDim's point of view. Speaking of DinDim, this film uses multiple different real penguins, CGI and animatronics to portray this character at different times. However, even with this knowledge it is done so well, that you don't even notice. 

Unfortunately, the researchers, who study DinDim, are very bland one-note characters. The film tends to drag a little when the focus goes to them. This is not helped by some of the awkward dialogue. However, these are small flaws when considering just how charming much of this film is. 

This is a pure delight for the whole family.