Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce star in director Peter Cattaneo’s gentle true life drama.
Penguins don’t talk. Or bark. Does that make them ideal roommates?
Maybe. Last year, My Penguin Friend starred Jean Reno as a curmudgeon in South America who befriends a penguin. This year, The Penguin Lessons stars Steve Coogan as a curmudgeon in South America who befriends a penguin.
Both films are based on true stories, but differ in the particulars. (Spoiler: if you like penguins, you’ll like, if not love, both movies.) In this year’s edition, Coogan plays Tom Michell, an expatriate schoolteacher from Britain who has moved from his native land to the U.S. to various South American countries.
Landing in Argentina may sound like a good idea, but in 1976 the country was shaken by a revolution after Isabel Peron’s government was overthrown in a coup d’etat and a military junta was installed. Michell blithely enters the country without any concern or interest in local politics, which blindsides him.
Indeed, he is more disturbed by the authoritarian tones of schoolmaster (Jonathan Pryce) than he is by the great, rippling disturbance caused by the new government’s authoritarian tones, which don’t affect him personally as much; they are akin to a series of minor inconveniences.
Slowly closing in on retirement, the aging Michell has closed himself off emotionally from other people, content to pass the time as pleasantly as possible. Oh, he’s friendly enough; he’s learned conversational Spanish and doesn’t make a bother of himself or think himself superior to others. Yet, for reasons not initially explored, a trench has opened up between his interior life and everyone else, and that’s fine with him.
After the school shuts down temporarily for unexpected reasons, Michell decides to spend a weekend by the beach, in search of excessive drinking and possibly a bedtime companion of the opposite sex. Rather than that, he ends up with an oil-soaked penguin that, even getting cleaned up, nobody else wants, leaving Michell to bring the penguin with him and secrete him in his lodging at the school.
As Michell begrudgingly comes to terms with the idea of a penguin as a roommate, naturally he begins to open up emotionally, first to two friendly housekeepers, then to a fellow teacher, and then to his students, who all find the penguin to be utterly charming.
Frankly, the penguin is much better company than Michell in the early going of the film, who spends much of it complaining about the problems it creates, while remaining cool and uninvolved with the problems the change in government has created for all local citizens. The film’s temperature warms up, as Michell’s character warms up, which makes The Penguin Lessons a charming and delightful experience.
Director Peter Cattaneo is best known for The Full Monty (1997), which established a grounded sense of humor and revolved around lovable working class characters. Even though Steve Coogan’s schoolteacher is, initially, far from lovable, he’s not a terrible brute, or anything like that.
He’s just lost his way, drifting away from the heart of humanity, and, as a spoiler reveals, for good reason. It takes an inciting incident to help him realize what he’s been missing, and set him back on the right path, which all contributes to the film’s effectiveness.
And who doesn’t love penguins?
The film opens tomorrow in select area theaters, via Sony Pictures Classics. For locations and showtimes, visit the official site.
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