My Penguin Friend. 2024
Directed by David Schurmann.
Starring Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza, Nicolás Francella, Alexia Moyano, Rocío Hernández, Ravel Cabral, Juan Queiroz, Pedro Urizzi, Pedro Caetano, Amanda Magalhães, Juan José Garnica, Wilson Rabelo, Thalma de Freitas, Roberto Borenstein, Duda Galvão, José Trassi, Rafael Pimenta, and Maurício Xavier.
SYNOPSIS:
Inspired by a true story; an enchanting adventure about a lost penguin rescued from an oil spill, who transforms the life of a heartbroken fisherman. They soon become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
Mawkish sentimentality is a tone to be expected from a family feature like My Penguin Friend. That doesn’t necessarily excuse it, but one can certainly prepare for that. Far more frustrating, there are some illogical, poor decisions from characters that are waived away as tragic mistakes intended to elicit sympathy, when in reality, the only sentiment that keeps coming to mind is, “Well, what did he think was going to happen.” The knowledge that this is supposedly inspired by a true story doesn’t help matters.
Fortunately, director David Schurmann (working from a screenplay by Kristen Lazarian and Paulina Lagudi Ulrich) does have international treasure Jean Reno in the lead role as Joao, a perpetually grieving fisherman living an unfulfilling life alongside his wife (played by Adriana Barraza.) He comes across a troubled Magellanic penguin he nurses and cleans back to full health (with a striking gentleness, visibly revealing that his emotional walls are slowly starting to come down), soon becoming friends. When he is doing carpentry, the penguin is right there by his side, pecking his beak into a wooden leg as if he is helping. The penguin, who goes on to be named DinDim for reasons I won’t spoil, also eventually leaves but also frequently returns across the years, traveling between Brazil and Argentina as if to show endless appreciation for being saved.
The issue here is the mushy, overwrought, and plain silly reason Joao is grieving in the first place, stemming from an incident decades ago where he lost his son to a boating incident before the boy’s birthday. Despite Joao knowing that the weather is not suitable for this, he decides to take the boy into the ocean anyway. It’s not the only confounding decision made by characters here; that is reserved for some marine biologists setting DinDim from research captivity (it’s a long story and formulaic for the genre), absolutely positive he will be fine and adapt. Let’s just say five minutes later, the film is once again kicking into emotionally manipulative overdrive.
A prologue is also dedicated to that son, also setting up a crush (who still lives nearby once the story flashes forward) and giving him a birthday gift before that tragedy. However, no one would ever accuse the narrative of making these people feel like actual characters but rather vessels for endless melodrama. Naturally, this quickly becomes irritating and disappointing, especially since Jean Reno does have some chemistry with his cute penguin co-star (utilizing real penguins, adding a layer of sincerity to the friendship) and superbly sells the character’s grief and weathered, depressed state of mind, not to mention the growing fondness for the creature.
Nevertheless, DinDim goes massively viral online (another overused and insufferable trope, primarily because filmmakers never understand how social media and YouTube work), bringing in another subplot involving a freelance journalist. There is the constant sense that once Joao and DinDim bond, with the latter healing the former, the film, which is already only 97 minutes, feels as if it’s in a consistent struggle to take the story anywhere else intriguing. Who and what the penguin represents is clear as day.
To be fair, some smiles can be found in the documentary-like shots of penguins leaping out of and traversing the ocean in synchronization or simply observing DinDim in daily life away from Joao. There is a case to be made that My Penguin Friend would function more effectively from the perspective of DinDim, although the title would obviously have to be changed (perhaps back to its original, superior one, The Penguin and the Fisherman.). Anything to escape the cloying melodrama would have been preferable.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
