Thursday, April 03, 2025
The Penguin Lessons
In 1976 during some turbulent times & political unrest in Argentina, a British teacher, Tom Michell (Steve Coogan) arrives at St. George College to teach English. He receives a less than warm welcome as he tries to fit in. The students in his classroom are unruly & pay little attention to his authority. When the school takes a sudden week long break due to recent nearby bombings, Tom & a colleague take a short vacation to Uruguay hoping to visit some night clubs & meet some ladies. After a night of dancing & a morning walk on the beach with a lady, Tom & his new lady friend rescue an injured penguin & clean it up at his hotel room. He only goes along with this idea to impress this lady. Tom tries to return the penguin to the ocean, but it keeps following Tom. Thus begins their comedy of errors in their bonding/smuggling journey back to Argentina & the college. Meanwhile, political unrest & protests continue as people continue to go missing which Tom personally witnessed but was too afraid to get involved. Then, life takes turn for Tom when he brings his hidden pet (now named Juan Salvador) into his classroom to get the students to focus, pay attention, & learn. This penguin is so damn cute. This is a bittersweet comedy drama about 2 strangers (Tom & Juan) in a strange land learning to adapt & rise up to their circumstances. Even more amazing is that this is based on a true story, which is reminiscent of another true wayward bird story “My Penguin Friend”. At the film’s end, home-movie footage of the real penguin who inspired this film is played.
Alien gives it 3 “The penguin is not a communist” stars out of 4.
