There’s a love story running through the latter part of the film, but it’s very low-key. The story is really about finding acceptance; about personality being far more important than looks. Essentially it’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in reverse.

The casting is excellent, with appropriate amounts of melodrama and over-acting from Penelope's mother and a few other caricatured people. Reese Witherspoon doesn't actually appear until about half-way through the film, and portrays rather a different character from her normal types. ( )