The Penguin Lessons
When Tom Michell (Steve Coogan) arrives at Argentina's St. George's School in 1976 to teach English, he isn't expecting to be immediately greeted by an unruly classroom of privileged teenaged boys and a military coup, which results in a week long shut down. Heading to Uruguay for some hedonistic pleasure, Tom is delighted to meet the beautiful Carina (Mica Breque) whose dismay over a penguin soaked in oil during a moonlit walk on a beach inspires Tom to save it. Tom wants nothing to do with the bird, now named Juan Salvador (Baba and Richard), which nonetheless follows him like a faithful dog, but through a series of run-ins with local police and customs officers, it ends up back in Argentina to teach "The Penguin Lessons."
Laura's Review: B-
Fueled with the misanthropic deadpan mien of Steve Coogan, an adorable Magellan penguin and Jeff Pope's ("Stan & Ollie") more politicized adaptation of Tom Michell's book, director Peter Cattaneo ("The Full Monty") weaves a tale of middle-aged reawakening. While the film never quite hits a high note, Coogan's gradual reengaging with life after the numbing impact of a tragic setback keeps us invested in Michell's story.
The man we meet describes his CV to Headmaster Buckle (Jonathan Pryce) as a career trajectory to the bottom, intending its southerly course from Chicago but hitting the nail on its Freudian head. When his class greets him with a tack on his chair and the throwing of paper airplanes, Michell's response is to hide behind a crossword puzzle. Assigned as a rugby coach, a game he claims to loathe, he leaves the boys on the field to nap nearby on a bench.
This is where he becomes aware of school maid Sofia (Alfonsia Carrocio, "Society of the Snow"), overheard talking about political resistance to the local fishmonger making a delivery, but it won't be until he returns with Juan Salvador that he begins to come alive in her and her grandmother Maria's (Vivian El Jaber) company, the penguin drawing their interest. He also gains control over his class by bringing the bird with him, the boys now paying attention because of the unconventional companion. Michell's distaste for his unwanted pet evaporates, returning from the zoo where he'd hoped to place it after learning Juan would be kept in quarantine for six weeks in a small enclosure.
The political atmosphere strikes close to home when Michell, out shopping in town, runs into Sofia, who we can see is being surveilled by local police. After they say their goodbyes, Michell sees three men jump out of a car and kidnap the young woman. He does nothing, but his guilt will haunt him, Maria's kindness towards him despite her anguish causing him to not only confront one of her kidnappers, but urge the apolitical Buckle to act on her behalf.
Cattaneo approximates Argentina and Uruguay in Spain and on the Canary Islands by sticking to interiors and small town centers, the 70's suggested in costume and cars. Wisely, he centers most of the action around Juan Salvador, both Michell's efforts to rid himself of the bird, then bond with it. Michell's class is mostly distinguished by the bullied Diego (David Herrero) and his bully Ernesto (Aimar Miranda), both seen having turned around as Buckle gives out year end awards. Michell's Finnish colleague Tapio (Björn Gustafsson, "Spy") seems extraneous to the plot, another initial aggravation whose presence adds little. The film's dual climax is blunted because two momentous events coincide, an unnecessary and unconvincing coincidence of scripting. Ending title credits inform us of the consequences of Argentina's military coup, accompanied by Michell's actual home movie footage of
Juan Salvador in St. George's swimming pool.
"The Penguin Lessons" is a low key charmer, Coogan keeping a cap on overt sentimentality.
Robin's Review: B
Brit Tom Michell (Steve Coogan), an English teacher, takes a job at a private boys' school in Argentina. It is 1976 and a time of turmoil in the country but that does not stop Tom from searching for love. Instead, he finds a diminutive penguin covered in crude oil and the beginning of “The Penguin Lessons.”
Tom arrives in country just days before the generals overthrow the Peron government in Argentina. He introduces himself to his unruly class of rich kids, but before he can really begin teaching, the coup by the generals takes place, closing the school temporarily.
Tom takes advantage of the unexpected free time and books a trip to Uruguay, hopefully to find romance - and he does. He spends an idyllic evening with beautiful Catalina (Micaela Breque), ending with a walk on the beach at sunrise. There, they discover an oil slick washed up on the shore and, with it, a crude-covered penguin. His attitude is “Oh, well, what can we do?” but she prevails and they rescue the little bird, Then, she tells him she is married and leaves him holding the penguin.
What happens next are a series of efforts by Tom to find a zoo, or something, that will take responsibility for his ward. He has no luck and the penguin is named by his housekeeper’s daughter as Juan Salvador. Tom, because of circumstances beyond his control, is forced to take Juan with him wherever he goes. The little cutie is, of course, a hit with everyone who meets him, even the boisterous boys in his English class – one of the many recipients of the “Lessons” of the title.
What happens to Tom, during the course of the movie, is a transformation from bitter and cynical to caring and compassionate. Steve Coogan brings his well-honed stammer to play in two languages as he learns to love little Juan. Finding him a home becomes incidental in this story of bonding between species.
Of course, the little critter steals the show every minute on screen and is the major draw here. But, the sweet story holds its own as Tom goes through a journey, both physically and metaphorically. Plus, Juan is such a cutie pie.
Sony Pictures Classics releases "The Penguin Lessons" in theaters on 3/28/25.
