Lionsgate
In some ways, I am silently laughing.
In his most recent film, Jean Reno again plays a gruff character that has suffered a devastating loss that shapes his emotionally isolated life. For all his grit he has a soft spot for helpless children.
After rescuing a defenseless creature, he helps to protect and nurture it back to health. In return he learns to love and live life again.
It’s not The Professional: Part 2, it’s Reno’s most recent film My Penguin Friend.
I love Jean Reno.
I’ll watch just about anything with him in it. Most folks know him as the methodical hitman Léon from The Professional.
While most moviegoers know Reno as the tough guy, he has been in a number of comedies and oddball rolls that show his humor and charm.
My first introduction to Jean Reno was seeing Luc Besson’s The Big Blue (I actually saw it in the theaters. Wow, I’m dating myself) where he playfully portrayed an over-the-top competitive freediver. I love that he can bounce between serious drama and comedy. It’s a shame he doesn’t have the opportunity very often in American films.
My Penguin Friend gives us the opportunity to see family friendly Jean Reno.
Jean Reno is João, a Brazilian fisherman who suffers the loss of his only son at sea. João blames himself for his son’s death. The tragedy causes João to withdraw from those around him; his wife, his friends, his community. Years later as an old man João finds an oil covered penguin adrift in the ocean. João takes the penguin home and nurses it back to health.
As the penguin recovers the two form a bond. João’s wife and friends see João reawaken. The penguin is named Dindim by one of the village children.
João slowly begins to reconnect with those around him.
Over the next several years, for half the year Dindim lives in Argentina in a colony of penguins that are observed and documented by an international research team. When the penguins leave Argentina to migrate, Dindim breaks off from the colony, and begins his 5000 mile journey from Argentina to Brazil.
In Brazil, Dindim stayed with João and his wife Maria for the 2nd half the year. Dindim and João become an internet viral sensation after visitors to João’s village film João and Dindim and post the video online.
When the benefactors of the Argentinian research team realize that Dindim is one of the penguins from the observed colony, they want Dindim for their own research. Will Dindim be taken away by the humans for research or will Dindim escape that fate and continue to visit his friend João? It’s the stuff that family adventures films are made of.
Jeno Reno is sweet as the emotionally marred João. Reno gets a chance to show his softer side. Both his character and his performance would be lost without actress Adriana Barraza’s Maria, João’s wife. The dynamic between the two is of a quiet love that speaks volumes.
The film is beautiful to watch, at times feeling like one of the recent era, glossy National Geographic films. It could double as a tourism trailer for both Brazil and Patagonia.
The only part I found somewhat distracting was the choice to add a 1st person point of view of Dindim, which will henceforth be referred to as “penguin vision”. The penguin vision was jarring for me as a viewer. It popped me out of the story. Then, I had to remind myself that this film’s target audience is in grade school, so penguin vision it is.
On the other hand, the combination of live-action “acting” penguins and digital effects was handled with dexterous effects so that the film never felt like a CGI heavy creation.
My Penguin Friend is based on the true story of João Pereira de Souza and the real life Dindim.
His videos still exist in the far reaches of YouTube. Unfortunately, Dindim no longer makes the journey to visit João. I try not to have Werner Herzog’s voice over from his documentary Encounters at the End of the World in my head when I think about Dindim’s fate. The hope is that Dindim is living his best penguin life with his colony and family of his own.
Extras include featurettes.
My Penguin Friend is a sweet story of friendship and love with a double side helping of environmental awareness and responsibility. From João’s reluctance to let Brazilian TV crews exploit or interfere with Dindim to the head researcher ultimately choosing Dindim’s well being over her own gain, the message of stewardship over ownership is demonstrated and encouraged.
My Penguin Friend is a heartfelt film that would be perfect to share with family. I’d highly recommend a double feature with Billy and Molly.
Enjoy!
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