In 1976, as Argentina descends into violence and chaos, a world-weary English teacher regains his compassion for others thanks to an unlikely friendship with a penguin.
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Reviews
r96sk
8
By r96sk
'The Penguin Lessons' is hearty viewing. Steve Coogan plus penguin is a recipe for success so the films delivers in that respect, I think any movie with a cute little flipper is going to be impossible to dislike. Everything with the penguin is sweet, much with Coogan is funny.
It's a really interesting plot, one that is based upon a rather incredible true event. The backdrop of 1970s Argentina adds a fresh edge to it all, so it's not simply a flick that relies on its cute animal. As serious as the flick gets (still reeling from that gut punch tbh), it is amusing stuff too.
Coogan is a smart choice of lead, although I could also weirdly visualise Rowan Atkinson and someone else I've since forgotten (ffs) in the role too. Obviously I know who Coogan is and do like him, but aside from 'Night at the Museum' I always forget about him - not here.
Vivian El Jaber brings a praiseworthy performance as well, likewise Alfonsina Carrocio. Jonathan Pryce is terrific casting as the headmaster, that first scene with him is great. Björn Gustafsson, albeit more minimally, is solid too. The kid actors are OK, for what it's worth.
CinemaSerf
7
By CinemaSerf
“Tom” (Steve Coogan) is an English teacher who has worked his way around South America becoming a little more cyclical than your average bear when he arrives at a posh school outside Buenos Aires that teaches the sons of the great and the good. It’s run by the ostensibly rather foppish “Timbuck” (Sir Jonathan Pryce) and after his first day he has little enthusiasm for his post. Then, in quick succession, he meets his Finnish colleague “Tapio” (Björn Gustafsson) and there is a timely coup so the school is closed and the pair decide to head off to Uruguay for some fun. “Tom” gets more than he bargained for, though, when a romantic walk along the beach introduces him to an oil slick and to a penguin that’s covered in the stuff. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished and next thing he has a pet that is determined never to be parted from him. Back at school, replete with his new sprat-eating friend, he has to keep his secret whilst dealing with the boys who epitomise the political differences of their fathers and with the growing sense of popular libertarianism that causes considerable grief for his heart-of-gold housekeeper (Vivian El Jaber) whose freethinking grand-daughter has been apprehended by the secret police. It’s based on a true story and though I’m not a great fan of Coogan’s underwhelming style of acting, he does manage to work together quite engagingly with his loyal “Juan Salvador” to provide us with a mix of the lightly sentimental and the equally lightly menacing all peppered with some sarcastic one liners and quite an entertainingly static effort from Gustafsson. Sir Jonathan doesn’t really feature enough make much impact but in the end, the star is the Magellan penguin that serves as a cheeky yet potent conduit bringing together boys, bullies, adults and teachers together in an amiable fashion.
