This utterly likable, disarming film tells a true story about a Magellanic penguin who gets lost—and badly injured—off the coast of Brazil. He is rescued by a simple fisherman (Jean Reno) who is still shaken by the drowning of his young son years ago. Reno nurses the bird back to health and sends him on his way. Little does he dream that the penguin, named DimDin by a girl in his village, will swim 5,000 miles to return to the exact spot where Reno left him again and again.
This reads like the synopsis of an old Disney studio movie, but the story is fundamentally true and told with great care and nuance. Reno is perfect as a man who has withdrawn from life, until he inadvertently discovers something worth caring about. Adrianna Barazza (the Mexican star who was Oscar-nominated for her unforgettable performance in Babel) portrays his wife, who is mildly annoyed by the penguin at first, until she sees the salutary effect it is having on her husband.
Director David Schurmann is an oceanographer and he brings to this project a quest for authenticity—as much as one could reasonably demand in a narrative film costarring a trained penguin. When we are allowed to see the real human portrayed by Reno and how he interacts with DimDin, at the end of the film, it’s clear that this is one instance where the words “inspired by a true story” are not just movie marketing hyperbole.
My Penguin Friend is currently playing in theaters and not available for streaming. This means that you, like DimDin, have to leave your home in order to see it.