The Penguin Lessons (12A)

★★ Here is a well-meaning, awkward tonal jumble of a movie, based on the bestselling memoir by former teacher Tom Michell; it is a quirky true-story heart warmer, in which an adorable penguin is apparently supposed to redeem not merely the human hero’s personal heartbreak but maybe even the agony of Argentina during the 70s junta. ~ The Guardian.

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Starring Mancunian Oscar nominee Steve Coogan, this poignant dramedy from Peter Cattaneo follows an Englishman’s personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history.

Buenos Aires, 1976: Tom arrives to begin a teaching job at a prestigious English boarding school. Argentina is fraught with political violence, and despite the headmaster’s exhortations the school keep calm and carry on, it’s shut down by the eventual military coup d’état.

Travelling to Uruguay, Tom encounters a penguin drenched in oil from a spill, and against his better judgment, rescues the bird. In doing so, he unlocks its undying loyalty, and after sneaking the flightless beast back to Argentina, begins a strange and beautiful friendship with the penguin that sees it become an unwitting agent of change for Tom and eventually, the whole school.

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★★★★ The Penguin Lessons will melt your heart. If you let it. ~ RTE.