Penguin Bloom
Warner BrosTragedy struck the life of passionate surfer Sam Bloom (Naomi Watts) during a family vacation in Thailand: she fell off from a high balcony and broke a thoracic vertebra that caused partial paralysis. The world of Sam seemed to fall apart because of that, as the beloved wife and mother of three struggled to adjust to life in a wheelchair. The accident didn’t only deteriorate the relationship between Sam and her husband Cameron (Andrew Lincoln), but also the one with her son Noah, who feels guilty for being the one who asked his mom to go up to the balcony in Thailand. Everything seems to change though when the three kids find an injured magpie, who they name Penguin, and the whole family starts taking care of the little bird, who slowly becomes an integral part of the Bloom family.
Adapted from the novel written by Bradley Trevor Greive and Cameron Bloom himself, Penguin Bloom recounts the true story of the relationship between the Bloom family and the titular Penguin. The movie, in result, is a tender and moving feature from director Glendyn Ivin, whose previous film's already explored different family dynamics: in The Cry, the Australian director focused his story on a young couple whose child has gone missing, while in Last Ride he analyses the relationship between father and son as they travel through the country while the former is wanted by the law.
Penguin Bloom is a story of resilience and hope as the whole family shifts their attitude to life thanks to the presence of the little magpie. This change in attitude though is not immediate, but a slow one that follows both Sam and Penguin’s recoveries. Guilt and remorse have characterised this family until the arrival of Penguin. Sam was completely broken after the traumatic event: not only could she not continue her surfing career, but she also felt like a dead weight for her family as she had to watch her husband growing and doing everything for the children himself without being helpful.
The similar condition between the two main characters is the focus of the film, and Glendyn Ivin finds the right tone to tell this story – that’s neither too sentimental nor tragic, but there can be some light and spontaneous moments found that are truly heartwarming. Penguin Bloom does have its flaws: the secondary characters are slightly underdeveloped; Sam’s son Noah, especially, since the movie tries to focus on his point of view as well but barely goes in-depth with it. Meanwhile, the main strengths of the movie reside within Naomi Watts’ performance and the admirable work from the magpie trainers. In fact, ten different birds were used throughout the picture as it follows different phases of Penguin’s life.
On her side, Naomi Watts isn’t able to give a bad performance, and here’s no exception: it doesn’t reach the heights of some of her best performances naturally but it’s still a remarkable work from the actress. In the first sequences, she’s very effective in portraying the broken and fragile state of Sam; the movie doesn’t really show flashbacks of her life before the accident aside from a few beautiful shots near the ocean, and these aren’t even necessary since the audience will feel the emotional state of Sam from Watts' eyes alone. As the movie goes on, the character starts rejoining her life and her passion for the ocean, but as mentioned above, this change in attitude isn’t drastic and Watts shows effectively the insecurities and the worries that still reside within Sam. Out of the rest of the cast, Rachel House steals the show as the kayaking teacher, the New Zealander actress always brings a charming and delightful presence and the scenes she shares with Watts are some of the movie’s best.
All in all, Penguin Bloom has a lot of heart at its core and tells a beautiful story of friendship and resilience. It won’t be the most engaging or complex experience for sure, but that doesn’t mean the movie is any bad. It’s definitely worth checking for Naomi Watts’ performance and the tender scenes that involve these ten adorable magpies.