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Los Angeles Times
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘The Penguin Lessons,' starring a teacher's pet, has feel-good movie moments down cold
The unique relationship between animals and people is a territory often mined for cinematic fodder; the twist in 'The Penguin Lessons,' based on the 2015 memoir by Tom Michell, is in the exoticism of both the animal and the setting, though the message imparted is indeed familiar. Adapted for the screen by screenwriter Jeff Pope ('Philomena,' 'The Lost King') and directed by Peter Cattaneo ('The Full Monty'), the creative team behind the film is well versed in presenting offbeat human interest stories with humorous and gently effective messaging — and a distinctly British sense of humor. When Tom (Steve Coogan) arrives in Buenos Aires to teach English to the privileged teenage boys at St. George's College, it's on the eve of the military coup in 1976, which he takes in stride with a stiff upper lip and healthy dose of cynicism. We don't know much about him except that he's only interested in keeping his head down and out of trouble. He doesn't have much interest in his pupils, the harrowing political situation or even friendships. On a bus to Uruguay for a weekend jaunt to avoid the coup, Tom's forthright Finnish colleague Tapio (Björn Gustafsson) says he likes his new friend Tom, who sighs, replying, 'You do? I don't.' It's on this fateful trip to Punta del Este that Tom's life begins to change, after a night out with a beguiling woman (Micaela Breque). Wandering the beach at sunrise, they discover an oil slick studded with penguin carcasses. His new acquaintance persuades him to take one of the surviving birds back to his hotel in an attempt to save it, then dashes, leaving him with the now-clean penguin. Try as he might to ditch his feathered companion, the penguin will not leave him alone, so Tom smuggles the bird back to Argentina and into his campus apartment, mostly because no one else wants to deal with a loose penguin. The standard heartwarming and humorous animal story unfolds as the penguin — eventually named Juan Salvador — forces Tom out of his grumpy, bored existence. The care, feeding and hiding of this creature force him to open up to those around him, like Maria (Vivian El Jaber), the campus cook and cleaner, and her granddaughter Sophia (Alfonsina Carrocio), a radical lefty who urges Tom to take a more active role in not just his politics but as a member of the community. 'I expect bad people to do bad things,' she says. 'But when good people do nothing, I could punch them in the face.' Juan Salvador also becomes Tom's way into bonding with his unruly students, wrangling their scattered attentions with the unusual (and adorable) animal. He finds the inspiration to teach them quietly radical poetry, much to the chagrin of the school's headmaster (Jonathan Pryce). The little penguin becomes a kind of mascot, a very cute creature for them to rally around and a therapist of sorts. Juan Salvador forces Tom to connect with others, and through this, he finds his spine, supporting his new friends while they endure the turbulent and terrifying times of Argentina's military dictatorship. Cattaneo and Pope manage to balance the tone of a dramatic historical depiction of fascism with a charming animal story and their secret weapon is Coogan. His bone-dry delivery makes it so that the sour is never too sharp and the sentimental is never too syrupy. Even in moments of deep sadness, he'll crack a rueful joke, and when he lets Tom's vulnerability show, we see the effort that it takes for this man to stick his neck out. 'The Penguin Lessons' is fairly formulaic — it hits the beats you expect it to, exactly when you expect it to hit them — but it is a stirring yarn, made all the better being based on a true story. Thankfully, Cattaneo opted to cast a real bird (actually a pair of them). The thought of Coogan acting opposite a CGI penguin is chilling. Perhaps we don't need the reminder that our personal relationships with animals are some of the most special and rewarding ones that we can enjoy as human beings, but 'The Penguin Lessons' also underscores that our relationships with people are even more important and that sometimes animals are the best stewards for this particular journey. Juan Salvador is certainly one of the more memorable ones. Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
If 'The Penguin Lessons' could commit to earnestness or comedy, it'd be great
'The Penguin Lessons' is more than a silly film about flightless birds. Directed by Peter Cattaneo, the film is adapted from Tom Michell's 2016 memoir of the same name. Delving into Argentinian politics, grief and growth, while the film had room to explore these themes, it remains somewhat lighthearted — which is where it falls short. Perhaps the film would've been better off had it remained truer to the book, which is about a young Michell in his 20s, rather than focusing on Michell in his late 50s. By using older casting, an attempt is made to tackle some of the harsh realities that were happening at the time in 1976 Buenos Aires. Despite this shift in age — the film still didn't embrace tough topics as much as it could have, nor did it lean into the comedic aspects whole heartedly enough. Instead, the movie kind of meanders somewhere in the middle. As Tom Michell exits his taxi to begin his new job at St. George's College as an English teacher, he's greeted by some graffiti that states 'Montoneros en la lucha contra los fascistas bastardos,' Montoneros in the fight against the fascist bastards. This, along with an explosion in the background, introduces signs of political unrest that surrounded the Dirty War, when Argentina's military dictatorship went after suspected left-wing political opponents from 1976 to 1983. Michell is disinterested in all that when he begins teaching, keeping to himself, doing the crossword and taking naps while teaching and coaching Rugby. One day, he is convinced by a woman he's trying to impress to rescue a Magellanic penguin from an oil slick on a beach in Uruguay. This penguin won't leave him alone, so he brings him back to school with him. Eventually, everyone embraces the penguin — who is named Juan Salvador after 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' — he becomes the school mascot of sorts and inspires Michell to really try to make an impact with the students. At the same time, Sofía, a maid at the school, is kidnapped and Michell feels an obligation to help her and her grandmother. Steve Coogan's acting was the saving grace of the film. He portrays Michell with such ease, it felt as though one was watching a documentary instead of a fictionalized memoir. Coogan has a witty and dry sense of humor and expressiveness to him that contrasts with Björn Gustafsson delight silliness and lighthearted delivery. Since the film did not lean into the gory details of the political state of Argentina at the time — aside from a final title card stating that an estimated 30,000 'Disappeared' people remain unaccounted for — I wish it had gone the other way and really embraced the comedic dynamic between Michell and his hopeless romantic colleague (Gustafsson). The two could've made a great buddy comedy. Honestly, the penguin ended up feeling like a third wheel. Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★ Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★ Director: Peter Cattaneo. Cast: Steve Coogan, Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero. Rating: PG-13 for strong language, some sexual references and thematic elements. How to watch: In theaters Friday, March 28. Reach the reporter at Follow @dina_kaur on X, formerly known as Twitter. Subscribe to today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'The Penguin Lessons' review: Not enough drama or comedy
