The makers of "Penelope" pull off a contemporary fairy tale without being a a cartoon or b childish or c cloying or d sophomoric. Christina Ricci, who stars as a cursed princess, and James McAvoy, who is her rumpled, nearly penniless Prince Charming, play the characters in Leslie Caveny's screenplay with straightforward earnestness. Many years ago, a young and fecund male in the wealthy Wilhern family shamed a young servant girl and failed to do right by her.

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