Penguin Bloom - Movie Review

Animals are wonderful and they continually bring joy to people all over the world. From a simple cat video to seeing an elephant be calmed by the sound of a piano, they're a part of our lives in many ways. They're an inspiration for people as well, technologically and mentally. I've seen people online with the weirdest adopted animals, from huge bears that cuddle their owns and lick their faces to so cats. Like I know a friend from Malaysia who owns over 20 cats because they love cats and they know all about taking in, caring for, and domesticating strays (especially since they're almost a pest in that country). Recently Netflix released a new film about how a certain bird changed a family's life forever for the better: Penguin Bloom.

Penguin Bloom is a movie based on a book based on a real life story (which often (not always) is something I really don't like). The story is about the Blooms, a family from Australia, who while on a trip to Thailand get into a horrible accident where Sam Bloom, the mother of the family, severely injures her back and becomes a paraplegic. The movie begins around a year after the accident and Sam is still hardly able to move without a wheelchair or her family to assist her. She is horribly depressed, unable to think who she is anymore, and her family keeps trying to make her feel better mental and physically. One day though of the kids, Noam Bloom, finds a baby magpie while on the beach and takes it home with him. The family starts to raise it and names is Penguin and it might be just the creature to give them all hope for a better future and for Sam Bloom to find a new purpose in her life.

The reason why I decided to watch this film is kind of unorthodox and one that feels out of place from most people who would go to watch this movie: Andrew Lincoln is in it and I miss him. I am really missing him on The Walking Dead and this is his first film since leaving the show. Very odd reason to be watching this particular movie, but I wanted to see if he still has the acting chops from before. After watching the film I definitely think he does, along with Naomi Watts in performance as Sam Bloom. Those two really lead the film and made me enjoy my experience with Penguin Bloom. Andrew Lincoln especially felt strong because he was able to show a wide range of emotions, including a silent crying scene that really hit hard.

After them though the rest of the cast range from pretty good to meh (mostly towards the pretty good side). The Bloom kids were pretty good, but we mostly focused on the Noah kid, the rest of Sam's family were decent enough/ meh, and there was a character introduced later on who's a kayaking instructor who was also pretty good. However I was somewhat confused for the first 20-30 minutes of the movie focusing so much on Noah because this film is more about the family, with Sam's struggles with depression being the main focus. The film begins with Noah talking about his mom and showing videos of himself and the family, which felt odd to me. Maybe it was because Sam Bloom had become so drawn in and depressed that you couldn't get anything meaningful out of her, but this continues on for so long it felt like the film didn't know what it was supposed to focus on.

This lack of focus also applies to the adopted magpie in the movie, Penguin. If you are making film that focuses on an animal, especially one that is supposed to change a character or group of character's lives, then you have to make it more of a thematic and visual focus in the film. Sadly, after watching the film, I found that the magpie wasn't that big of a deal for the family. I mean it's a new addition to the family and it was pretty cute, but almost felt like it could have been written out of the film with a bit of tinkering with the script and the quality of the film wouldn't change much. The whole movie needed a better script to it because there wasn't a strong focus on the big challenges of the film and characters were. What's more, there wasn't a defining element to the movie. Was this a movie about animals? About depression? Sports (I'll get into that in a bit)? Family? What was it?

Another problem with the script was some of the dialogue. While some of it felt great with the better performances I could tell some of the dialogue was a little too "on the nose." There were plenty of lines that just hit the point of a moment a little too much to be believable. Sometimes less is more and some moments in the movie were on the "more" side. For instance there is a dinner scene where Cameron Bloom, though well acted by Andrew Lincoln, goes really in depth about Sam and how a certain character is taking Sam's situation to an overblown level. It wasn't subtle at all and I think other people aren't going to be as forgiving as me when it comes to the dialogue.

Now even with these script problems the film did get some emotion out of me. As said earlier Andrew Lincoln and Naomi Watts were really good in this movie and there was a great depiction of depression in the movie. I wish we could have seen Sam Bloom at first coming to grips with her sudden physical disability, but see where she is where the film begins, how she has a hard time just getting out bed some days, whether physically or because she's too under the weather to even try, was in my opinion very accurate. She doesn't want to go outside, she doesn't want to interact with people, she doesn't want to do anything since she feels she can't do anything anymore, she even doesn't want people to ask how she's feeling because she doesn't want to remind them and herself that she's miserable and continually in pain. There are even some scenes where she's kind of self destructive, not realizing her actions are hurting others besides herself.

Now that last point can lead people to not liking her or the film. I certainly was like that at first because I personally am always trying to look in a positive light. The world is just too depressing and harsh to have yet another person join in those ranks. At first I couldn't get behind her at all because the film clearly shows how her family, especially her husband, are trying so hard to help her out, yet she ignores or brushes off their attempts to assist her. They were trying so many things and Cameron Bloom was basically having to raise their three boys mostly on his own. There's a scene that really hits hard when Cameron tries to explain his worries to Sam about her and the family and she somewhat understands, but just doesn't accept what's going on because of her depression.

It's the presence of Penguin that starts to encourage Sam to start getting off her ass and do something. At first it's very hard because she's gone into herself for so long it's hard for her to get out and do things. To me recovery from depression is like a door: You have to keep opening and walking through the door in order to get out of it. You think it's locked, but it never is... You just have to will yourself to open it up. And this, along with this film, could be great inspiration for some people who are down on themselves and need a reason to pick themselves back up.

Saying this though Sam's mental recovery is ummm... I feel it's not as strong as what the director was hoping for. There is a certain point where Cameron Bloom finds an add for Kayaking because before her accident Sam liked to surf a lot. When she finally gets to that point it feels powerful in that she's learning to get out of her hole and be more active (which in studies can be positive thinking in people). We see her do it more often and I found it a great activity for her to be active, get some fresh air, and not feel useless. But then at the end we get a small wall of text talking that gives the kayaking a whole new meaning, which made me question so much on what the real purpose of the kayaking was. That text changes so much about what the movie was trying to say and focus on and now I'm left confused.

Penguin Bloom, while not clear in some places, is a story that brings out some emotions with some strong acting. The script I think could have been better written, with a better focus on what the film was about, but if you want something that sweet and to raise your spirits some, along with having a small adorable animal to root for, then I could possibly recommend Penguin Bloom. I've been told recent that I sometimes look too into films and that's not the same as what a "normal" movie fan would do, but... to each his/ her own.

Tentative Score: 7/10

Definitive Score: 6.75/10

I hope to see more of Andrew Lincoln in film in the future. I already missed his (supposedly) epic performance as Scrooge in a recent Christmas Carol play. He's already planning to return as Rick Grimes in some future The Walking Dead movies, but before then I really hope to see more of his talent on the big screen.