The Penguin Lessons

Based on a true story, The Penguin Lessons focuses on Tom Michell, a quiet and somewhat cynical teacher who is hired by a prestigious school in Argentina in 1976 to teach English. It is a time of political unrest, with government forces abducting activists, and during a week when the school is closed due to bombings in the city, Tom takes a trip to Uruguay for a short vacation / to avoid the situation. There, he encounters a penguin near death by the beach from an oil slick, reluctantly rescues it, and brings it back to the school with him. As the situation in the country escalates, Tom's budding friendship with the penguin and the people in the school forces him to reconsider his viewpoints on life and what a simple teacher like himself is capable of doing.

Waddling and Stumbling. The Penguin Lessons mostly works as a lighthearted, inspirational comedy-drama about the capability of being able to change for the better and finding the inner strength to take a stand for what is right, no matter how simple that stand may seem. It also takes place during a very real and tense political time period and features a rather odd, quirky element– that being the titular penguin. All these elements make for a strange hodge-podge of a story, and it feels messy when looked at with closer inspection. The film has to tie together a very comedic element with a setting that is far from funny, and for the most part, it is able to do so by focusing on the charm of the cute animal at the center of the film. But in the process, it has to shirk off some of the darker aspects of this story, and the film starts to feel unconvincing, trying to make light of a very dark moment in history. There are mentions of government abductions, and the real weight and even ongoing aftermath of these disappearances have to be glossed over in order to keep the mood of the rest of the tale light. As such, the film feels smaller, but it also feels like it lacks bite, especially given the geopolitical setting. The film prefers rather safe, tepid drama and simple jokes rather than addressing the major elephant in the room, and it feels, at the very least, a lost opportunity for truly contemplative conflict and, at worst, a cop-out.

Suiting Up to the Situation. When taken at the film's intended tone, however, the film does seem to have a lot of charm to spare. When one accepts the smaller stakes that the film seems suitably comfortable in, the film does provide the lighthearted appeal it sets out to provide. The interactions with the various characters with the penguin can be amusing, and the smaller scope and feel make for a wonderful insight into the importance of being firm in morals, no matter how small the measure taken is. It also helps that Steve Coogan is effortlessly delightful in the role, creating a magnetic presence on screen. The visuals are also particularly pretty, shot in these vibrant and sunlit hues of yellow. Ultimately, the film comes to a lovely, even moving conclusion, but it also feels like the story, especially in the given setting, could have taken more risks with the narrative it tells. It's still mostly a light, appealing film, but it's also hard to overlook the sanitizing steps the film had to take in order to get to that point. It feels like the film could have examined and presented the political aspects of the story further while still having that overall inspirational tone, but it chooses to bury the harsher truths in service of a safer, happier film. On the outside, it's a very pleasing watch, and it can stay that way for most people who are simply satisfied with its light surface level. But when given a closer inspection of its details, the film can't help but rub someone the wrong way.