My Penguin Friend


Joao (Jean Reno, "Leon: The Professional") is looked upon as a broken man by his old fishermen friends on Brazil’s Ilha Grande, having lost his young son Miguel (Juan José Garnica) in a stormy sea on the boy’s birthday decades earlier.  But when the man who speaks to no one but his wife Maria (Adriana Barraza, "Babel," "Blue Beetle") discovers a penguin covered in oil and near death, he rescues the bird and awakens to life again with “My Penguin Friend.”


Laura's Review: B-

Director David Schurmann's documentary background is evident in a film that crosses a family dramedy with a nature documentary, a combination that introduces some pacing issues but provides background to an incredible true story.  The film is formulaic, introducing the penguin as a friendly rascal who gives Joao new purpose before scientific researchers place their relationship in jeopardy in the film’s “E.T.” like third act, but both Reno and Barraza are committed to their characters, their relationship moving, and we get to enjoy the performances of live Magellanic rescue penguins as DinDim, the bird who delights an entire village before going viral.

At first Maria is not amused by the oil spread about her kitchen, but Joao keeps insisting the bird needs time to recover.  Young Lucia (Duda Galvão), the daughter of Calista (Thalma de Freitas) who was Miguel’s close friend, is delighted when she sees the penguin with Joao and names it DinDim, but he warns her she is unlikely to see it again.   After a couple of weeks, he rows to an outer island and leaves the bird in a cave, hoping it will return to its home.  The next morning, Maria is surprised to find DinDim back outside their house, so the couple decides to let the penguin come and go as it pleases.

As Joao builds it a wooden equivalent of the species’ domed nests, DinDim responds to his hammering by banging his beak, an amusing back and forth communication.  DinDim finds the still wrapped birthday gift Calista had given Miguel under the boy’s bed and takes it to his nest.  But one morning, Joao heads out to greet his friend only to find webbed prints leading to the sea.  DinDim has apparently gone home.

Writers Kristen Lazarian and Paulina Lagudi Ulrich then take us 5,000 miles south to Patagonia in Argentine where Magellan penguin researchers Adriana (Alexia Moyano), Stephanie (Rocío Hernández) and Carlos (Nicolás Francella) note how unusually friendly a certain penguin is when tagging him.  And when it is time to migrate, DinDim swims 5,000 miles right back to his friend Joao’s, a routine we will learn in closing credits continued for 8 years, but one which is almost interrupted when Stephanie comes across a video of DinDim and the fisherman and Adriana calls a journalist friend in Rio, Paulo (Ravel Cabral), to see if he can verify the tag number on the bird.

Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “T2 Trainspotting”) celebrates the vibrant colors of the Brazilian and Argentine coastlines, giving us birds-eye-views of DinDim’s oceanic journeys and following the toddling little guy through village streets.  Fernando Velázquez’s (“A Monster Calls”) orchestral score is dotted with swirling flute denoting the movement of penguins in the water.   Schurmann’s decision to use live penguins was a smart one which comes across in human performance as well, Reno clearly bonding with the birds.  “My Penguin Friend” may follow a well worn cinematic path, but it tells an incredible story of man bonding with nature and it tells it with heart.          



Robin's Review: B

Joao (Jean Reno) is an aging and troubled Brazilian fisherman who makes a remarkable find - a little penguin near death from an oil spill. He nurses his new diminutive friend back to health and, in the process, an unbreakable bond is formed with “My Penguin Friend.”

Director David Schurmann and co-writers Kristen Albanian and Paulina Lagunda Ulrich tell the based-on-true-life story of Joao Perei de Souza and his little friend, Dindim, As the story begins, a much younger Joao gives in to his son Miguel and takes him out in his boat for the boy’s birthday. But, weather turns very bad very fast and tragedy results.

Flash ahead many years and the heartbroken Joao still grieves his son. Then, he finds a little penguin, near death from exposure to an oil slick and starving. Kindly Joao takes the aquatic bird into his home, gently cleaning off the oil and feeding it fish. Then, Joao’s wife, Maria (Adriana Barraza), discovers her new tenant, who has taken over the bathroom. She is not happy but she, too, soon gives in.

This begins the idyllic part of the story as the two very different creatures bond and become friends for life. Here, the montage of the two friends frolicking, napping and eating fish shows that bonding take place between them. If this is how the story proceeded, it would be nice, if a bit boring.

So how does Hollywood handle boring? By bringing scientists into the equation, of course, to introduce a danger to the idyllic relationship between a man and his penguin. Of course, these penguin listeners are not a danger to Dindim, but the possibility of danger creates an artificial tension, something that every heart warming animal movie needs.

The filmmakers also add the element of bringing the townsfolk, and their growing support for Joao and Dindim, into the “it takes a village to raise a penguin” vibe. I have seen films like “My Penguin Friend” many times over the years and the filmmakers push all the right buttons and pulls all the right strings, especially those attached to the heart.

Of course, our little penguin friend is anthropomorphized with a whole bevy of cute little penguins playing Dindim. You get the expected penguin hijinx as the little guy does cutely naughty things to the humans – who only get angry in a most good-natured way. Jean Reno does a fine job as the aging fisherman and Dindim’s best friend. Even the ending titles leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.


Roadside Attractions releases "My Penguin Friend" in theaters on 8/16/24.