The Penguin Lessons

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The Penguin Lessons

2024

1h 50m

Drama

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7 Reviews

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The captivating true story of the unlikely bond between an English teacher and a penguin.

Guy Lodge

Variety

This is amusing stuff, well served by Coogan’s knack for haughty composure in the face of the absurd. The film is less convincing, however, when it reaches into the realm of the tragic.

Sep 11, 2024

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Beandrea July

indieWire

Using a distorted version of crucial historical events as a plot device that lionizes the British expat in a country that is not his own isn’t pathos, it’s objectification.

Rated: C

Sep 7, 2024

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Ryan Gilbey

Guardian

There is a glass-half-full approach and then there is submerging reality so deeply in whimsy, sentimentality and cultural cliche that it needn’t be there at all.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 7, 2024

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Damon Wise

Deadline Hollywood Daily

Older audiences, however, will certainly respect what everyone is trying to do here, especially admirers of Steve Coogan in his more pensive guises.

Sep 16, 2024

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J. Don Birnam

Next Best Picture

It is not a literal masterpiece like the poems of Lord Byron that Tom teaches. Rather, a family-friendly tearjerker, like so many animal films with facile lessons, is all it is and aspires to be like so many before.

Rated: 7/10

Sep 10, 2024

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Nikki Baughan

Screen International

While Michell’s story is no doubt a heartwarming one, the decision to go beyond the confines of his lived experience and use the wider socio-political landscape to add further drama is ill-judged.

Sep 9, 2024

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Peter Cattaneo

Director

Steve Coogan

Actor

Jonathan Pryce

Actor

Vivian El Jaber

Actor

Björn Gustafsson

Actor

Alfonsina Carrocio

Actor

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Synopsis

The captivating true story of the unlikely bond between an English teacher and a penguin.

Director: Peter Cattaneo
Producer: Ben Pugh, Rory Aitken, Andy Noble, Adrián Guerra, Robert Walak
Screenwriter: Jeff Pope
Production Co: 42, Nostromo Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 50m