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For a woman who wants to learn who she is and love herself for it, Penelope hardly spends any time on her quest for self-discovery.

If her movie namesake indeed shows us her entire transformation from locked-up recluse to confident and secure lover, then the young lady's story is nonsensically short.

This film about an aristocratic family's curse and the 25-year-old Penelope ( Christina Ricci) made to bear it misspends practically all of its run-time.

Choosing to focus on Penelope's efforts to marry instead of on her budding romance with a gambler (James McAvoy), the film fails in the respect that it leaves so very much unsaid.

This "modern fairy tale," one of many such films released of late, takes a cue from its roots by teaching a message to both its characters and the audience. And there can be no doubt that despite any of its flaws, Penelope does teach an important message.

The problem is that rookie director Mark Palansky lacks the confidence in his own work to commit to any one story line. Although his style never lacks that Tim Burton touch, Palansky forgets that the charm of Burton's films lies with his characters and is supplemented by the scenery.

Ricci and McAvoy only share several scenes together throughout the movie — thus when that great climactic kiss finally comes, as it does in all such fairy tales, the characters involved have absolutely no connection.

Some of the movie's plentiful potential delivers. Catherine O'Hara completely rollicks in the role of Penelope's superficial but loving mother, whose one goal in life seems to be marrying her daughter off to an aristocratic man who could rid the family of it's curse. She overacts brilliantly and steals every scene she is in.

On the opposite end, Annie ( Reese Witherspoon) is not very enticing, but her role in the movie is criminally underplayed. As Penelope's conduit to the real world, Annie gets cut out of much of the movie, along with the transitional scenes that should have carried the movie from one chapter to the next.

Worse than that, McAvoy's potent acting skills go to waste as he basically portrays a caricature of the young broody love interest.

What boils down to an insignificant dip into feel-good storybook territory could have been so much more. As is frustratingly common, the opportunity to watch a great cast at work is ruined here by a script that is too simple.

With just a little more time spent between the lovers, Penelope might have been something magical.