Review: "The Penguin Lessons"

The Penguin Lessons is a gem of a movie.

The movie trailers pitched it as a quirky, indie, low-budget comedy about an Englishman and an unlikely friendship with a rescued penguin.  Penguins are a sure-fire hit in the movies.  Think about it. Pair one up with the incomparable Steve Coogan and you can pretty much bank on guaranteed success.  It’s a winning combination.

Of course, there’s the matter of story.  In this case, it’s a story inspired by real life events as told by Tom Michell, played by Steve Coogan. 

Coogan is a remarkable talent, a comedy genius whose impersonations of Michael Caine and Mick Jagger are legendary (and well worth Googling).  That fact, and the lighthearted mood of the preview clips, lead you to believe that The Penguin Lessons would be a silly, fluffy comedy, not that there is anything wrong with that.  The world, now more than ever, is need of some comic relief.

The movie is about a tuned-out, lonely, somewhat boring middle-aged British English teacher who takes a job at an exclusive boy’s school in Argentina in 1976.  It’s a time of civil strife on the edge of civil war.  When he arrives at the school, explosions erupt in the distance.  Political graffiti is being removed from the walls of the upscale facility.  The tension and unrest are palpable.

On a weekend trip to Uruguay, Tom meets an attractive woman at a club.  As they stroll along the beach on a beautiful sunrise, they stumble upon some penguins who were the victims of an offshore oil spill. 

One is just barely alive, and in a gesture meant to impress the woman, Tom offers to take it to his hotel room to try to save it.  After cleaning it up in the tub, the woman nervously confesses that she is married and departs, leaving Tom stuck with a grateful bird that steadfastly refuses to leave his side.

The scene of Tom trying to return the penguin back into the sea is priceless -- a perfect blend of cinematography, editing and music.  What follows is the complicated journey of getting the penguin back to the school in the hopes of donating it to the local zoo.  That, in itself, proves to be a challenge, navigating the authorities, government checkpoints and the strict headmaster of the school (played by Jonathan Pryce) who has made it clear that the school allows no pets.

Steve Coogan once again rolls out his acting chops, never underplaying or overplaying.  The penguin nails it by just being one of the best feathery co-stars that anyone has ever seen in a movie.  Of course, it’s all about great camerawork and masterful editing, but the filmmaking magic transforms the bird into the spiritual centerpiece of the story. 

Little by little, the penguin begins to touch the lives of a handful of people at the school including one of Tom’s nerdy colleagues (played by Björn Gustafsson), Tom’s maids (a local grandmother and granddaughter), and his somewhat unruly students. 

Things take a nasty turn one day when the granddaughter, a feisty young woman, is suddenly, forcefully taken into custody one day while she and Tom are shopping.  Her family fears for her life. In the current political climate, people abducted by the military regime are sometimes never seen again.  Tom is haunted by shame for not mustering the courage to try to save her.

The postscript at the end of the film underscores the reality of this part of the story.  It states that some 30,000 people were taken away as political prisoners in the late Seventies in Argentina.  All of this is in the wake of abductions and deportations happening here in The United States just days before the opening of The Penguin Lessons.  The timing couldn’t be more disturbing.

The movie addresses the ugliness of radical political change and the mass feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that it can create.  It suggests that while we, as individuals, may be powerless to stop the insanity, we are all capable of small acts of compassion and kindness that can collectively make a difference.  It’s a message of hope.  In this case, one of the many lessons that the characters learn from a loveable, lost bird who transformed their lives.

The Penguin Lessons is neither comedy nor drama, strictly speaking.  Much like life, it’s somewhere in between. 

It will make you laugh at times and might bring you to tears during a couple of key moments. 

It manages to be one of those beautiful, heartfelt movies that works on every level.  While it may turn out to be more of an emotional experience than audiences might expect, it is ultimately uplifting, thoughtful and poignant.  It’s one of those delightful little movies that will stick in your head and your heart for a long, long time.

A short home video clip shot by Tom Michell at the very end of the film is a reminder that The Penguin Lessons was inspired by real events.  It’s the icing on this cinematic slice of cake.