Real beauty lies within. Haven’t we heard this already? Perhaps we have, but sometimes it can be very refreshing to hear it again, especially in a modern fairytale film which casts Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon as two young girls ready tot face the world.

Each moral must have its own fable and in the case of “Penelope,” it is a story about beauty and ugliness, about the obsessions of modern society, about worshipping celebrity and many, many other topics.

This unfortunately is one of the movie’s shortcomings: it tries to explore too many levels and you know that the final twist will be a happy-end within the first five minutes of the film.

“Penelope” is about… Penelope, a poor little rich girl from an aristocratic family, who is born with a pig’s snout because of an ancient curse, due to the sins of her ancestors. Of course, there is a way to lift the curse: by finding a own-of-her-kind, blue-blooded suitor.

In a questionable decision, Jessica and Franklin Wilhern (Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant) keep her hidden in a mansion, until Penelope reaches adulthood, when her mother decides to call in an entire bunch of young, beautiful, rich aristocrats.

And this seems to be just another flaw of the story. After trying so hard to hide her daughter, Mrs. Wilhern suddenly decides to call a bunch of unknown people into her house. Hello, matrimonial agencies have been invented! So have dating sites.

However, each and every of the would-be suitors leaves the house, not out the door but through the nearest window, screaming and crying, after catching just a glimpse of Penelope’s not so ugly (but rather cute) pig snout.

This is perhaps the main flaw of the movie. What should have acted as the story’s justification fails to impress. Ok, I’m ready to believe that plastic surgery, despite its latest advancements, is not the answer to Penelope’s problem, but then again she is not really as ugly as we are supposed to consider her.

Since the story is not among the most original, why didn’t the film’s creators at least try to learn something from “Ugly Betty,” who does much better in the credibility department?

Back to the story, one of the window jumpers breaks the story to the media and Lemon (Peter Dinklage), a tabloid vulture who has a personal vendetta against the Wilherns, decides to hire an I’ll-do-anything-for-money aristocrat, Max (James McAvoy) to pose as suitor and obtain photos of Penelope’s embarrassing pig snout.

The plan seems perfect, but Max discovers that, behind her ugliness, Penelope is a smart, funny person, perfectly loveable – and he does fall in love with her.

Ashamed of his real intentions, Max decided to flee from Penelope’s life, leaving her feeling hurt and betrayed.

So she decides to see how the real, bad world is and in her exploring journey meets Annie (Reese Witherspoon), a punkish Vespa-riding firecracker of a girl who shows her the ways of the world in a town that seems to be a mix between a 19-th century London and a modern day New York.

As you can imagine, it takes about few minutes before the media exposes the well-guarded secret of Penelope, and with her face on the cover of every major tabloid, she has to teach the world and herself the lesson that beauty is just a detail.

With any other cast, “Penelope,” directed by debutant Mark Palansky from a script by Leslie Caveny, a TV sitcom veteran, would have failed. With all the twists and spins, the story still unfolds in a predictable manner.

But the cast saves the movie. Christina Ricci, the girl who made her way in the movie industry as one of the members of another awkward family, the Addams, plays a perfect Penelope, a girl in whom her mother induced the idea that her physical defect will outcast her forever from a normal life.

Penelope’s journey in the world and the way she discovers who she really is are perfectly portrayed by Ricci, who instills charm and credibility in her character.

Similarly inspired is casting Catherine O’Hara as the mother. In any other circumstances, “Penelope” could have been a story about the relationship between mothers and daughters, about the generation gap, but the relaxation with which O’Hara portrays Jessica Wilhern only helps save the movie.

Reese Witherspoon, who also took on producing duties with this project, proves, even with a supporting role, how a brilliant actor can transform the most banal story into one oozing charm and vivacity.

Annie is the film’s necessary character, the opposite to the girl born and raised far from the real world. Cynical and endearing, Witherspoon makes good pairing with the restrained Ricci.

Perhaps their short encounter inspires you to make another movie with the two actresses as costars? It would be a real gain.

Overall, “Penelope” is likable; it has a story and most importantly, a moral. It will entertain you, on one condition: do not expect from it more than it is – a fairytale with brilliant actors.