Further proof that there may be no such thing as a non-feel-good penguin movie is The Penguin Lessons (now on Netflix), about a cynical man whose weary facade is eroded by the presence of a cute, stinky flightless bird. Steve Coogan (The Trip franchise, Oscar-nominated for Philomena) rather ably plays said cynical man in this gentle dramedy, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and medium-loosely based on the memoir of the same name by Tom Michell, an English bloke who befriended a penguin while teaching at an Argentinian school in the 1970s. Yes, those same 1970s when Argentina was under fascist rule, which maybe makes having a pet penguin tricky – about as tricky as a movie’s attempt to balance broad sentiment with political turmoil.
The Gist: Buenos Aires, 1976: Tom Michell (Coogan) arrives at fancypants rich-boy educatorium St. George’s College as an explosion rocks the city a little ways off. That’s just a coup happening back there, and Headmaster Buckle (Jonathan Pryce) would prefer it if Tom paid it no mind. The proper thing to do is teach English to these children of privilege and not get involved, Buckle insists. That works for Tom, who barely wants to get involved with anything these days. He shrugs his shoulders at his unruly classroom, pulling out a crossword puzzle as pandemonium breaks out. He sneaks away from rugby practice – he got roped into being the coach – for a nap on a bench. He shoos cleaning-crew lady Maria (Vivian El Jaber) out of his apartment. He barely tolerates fellow teacher Tabio’s (Bjorn Gustafsson) attempts to form a friendship (“I like you, Michell,” Tabio says, to which Tom replies, “You do? I don’t.”). He pretends not to hear the talk of political resistance by Maria’s granddaughter, school staffer Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio). He just meanders.
A weekend getaway to Uruguay finds Tom trying to score with a lovely lady, except they end up back at the hotel room giving a penguin a bath. No, that’s not a euphemism. It’s a literalism. Their romantic stroll on the beach became a rescue mission when they came across a penguin covered with oil from a spill. The lady helped soap up the bird and bolted, and Tom’s attempts to set it free and continue his life of no real responsibilities fail when the penguin follows him with puppy-dog persistence. He smuggles it back to the school, where the damnedly cute animal inevitably initiates interactions with other human beings, which he welcomes with a similar tenor to the penguin shitting on the floor.
And so Maria and Sofia drop by to clean Tom’s apartment and they fall for the creature – they name the bird Juan Salvador – and now Tom has new friends, for crying out loud. When his class won’t listen to a dang thing he says, he plops Juan Salvador on his desk, and suddenly the students are focused. One day, Tom’s on the street when he runs into Sofia, who shares a fig with him before she’s snatched by goons and tossed in the back of a car, which is what happens to people in countries where citizens have to get used to having guns pointed at them. All Tom can do is watch; he’s gotten used to being passive, but rarely with such guilt attached. Maria’s distraught, of course. Meanwhile, Juan Salvador charms everyone he encounters, even Headmaster Buckle, and Tom finally connects in a meaningful way with others, including Maria’s family, and his classmates, who are roused by his poetry lessons. And somewhere in this milieu of political terror and penguin cuteness, Tom just might be finding a new lease on life.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Is March of the Penguins Against Fascism too glib? Otherwise, The Penguin Lessons is like Dead Poets Society crossed with recent heartwarmer My Penguin Friend.
Performance Worth Watching: It’s no stretch for Coogan to play the pastry with the crusty exterior and gooey innards, but he excels at it, and pretty much holds The Penguin Lessons together singlehandedly.
Memorable Dialogue: Tom: “No es communista, esta penguin.”
Sex and Skin: None.
Our Take: I quite liked The Penguin Lessons – it’s consistently funny and sweet, thoughtfully directed and acted, and the penguin is played by a real bird and not CGI ones and zeroes, thank god. Admittedly, it’s difficult to wrap your arms around the disparity of totes-adorbs animal reaction shots and the junta disappearing people (30,000 of them, per a postscript), which has us wondering if Cattaneo takes the context of this story seriously enough. I think he does, sort of, for the most part, despite the slight unease we feel upon realizing that Jeff Pope’s screenplay – which significantly alters Michell’s memoir – essentially uses seven years of deadly civil turmoil as a catalyst for a mopey Brit to steer himself away from personal nihilism. At one point, Tom describes himself as “Hemingway without the money, and I’ve never written any books,” and we all know what happened to Hemingway.
So at worst, the movie is thematically reductive, and at times a bit maudlin and manipulative. But I’m comforted by the existence of serious films addressing the subject head-on — e.g. the extraordinary I’m Still Here — while films like The Penguin Lessons approach such topics from a different angle. Cattaneo keeps the tone mediumweight, moving and gently funny, driven by Coogan, who bridges the funny-sad divide with the best of them, his cynical line readings crisply timed and masking unspoken emotions the character would prefer to actively avoid. Tom’s bluntness (“Now I’ve ended up with no sex and a penguin”) is at once endearing and prickly, the charismatic jolt a formulaic film like this needs to overcome its various familiarities and tonal shortcomings.
Despite a simplistic and gently contrived take on living under a cruel dictatorship, the film left me with the sense that improving yourself helps you become a better citizen – and the notion that maybe integrating more penguins into society might break down the boundaries between people that inevitably lead to despot rule? I mean, cleaning up guano is far more preferable than a police state. Am I being too glib again? Or am I being too naive in believing that hope for a better world can arise from unassuming and unexpected sources? I don’t think I am, and that’s why a movie like The Penguin Lessons can win us over.
Our Call: You don’t necessarily need a penguin to bring people together when their liberty is being threatened, but it doesn’t hurt. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.