One film per year in which the unexpected friendship of a penguin deeply affects a human being dealing with emotional pain? No objection here. That’s what we get with the British offering “The Penguin Lessons,” which swims into theaters roughly nine months after “My Penguin Friend,” from B razil. ‘My Penguin Friend’ review: Tale of unusual long-distance bond is touching They tell different stories, of course, but each movie is sweet, charming and inspired by real people and penguins. In the case of “The Penguin Lessons,” the person is Tom Michell, whose memoir of the same name serves as the source material for screenwriter Jeff Pope and director Peter Cattaneo. The film’s version of Tom (Steve Coogan) arrives in the politically tumultuous Buenos Aires of 1976 to begin a job teaching English at a prestigious boarding school. St. George’s College’s headmaster, Mr. Buckle (Jonathan Pryce), has pegged Tom as a man just trying to get by and one who won’t try to stir things up in the classroom by espousing opinions that may not be popular with the powerful parents of the students. (He also tells him pets aren’t allowed in his apartment on school grounds, which hardly seems like an issue at the time.) Tom puts in almost no effort in the classroom in front of disinterested students and even less as the rugby coach. Once an expected military coup happens in Argentina, the school is closed temporarily, and Tom and another teacher, the broken-hearted Tapio (Bjorn Gustafsson), take the opportunity to spend a couple of relaxing days in Ecuador. There, while wooing the lovely Carina (Mica Breque), a woman he’s met dancing and with whom he takes a walk along a beach, Tom encounters a Magellanic penguin covered in oil, apparently from a spill. Trying to close the deal with Carina, the reluctant Tom smuggles the penguin into his hotel room, and the two bathe it. Before heading home, Tom tries to nudge his new friend into the ocean to resume normal penguin activities, but the little guy would rather stick with Tom. From there, the universe seems to be conspiring to keep him and the flightless bird together, much to his frustration. In a scene from "The Penguin Lessons," Steve Coogan's Tom attempts to lead a penguin back into the ocean, but that effort fails. (Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics) Back in the apartment — where he relegates his new buddy to the bathroom at night and the terrace during the day — Tom negotiates by phone with a local zoo to take the penguin. The bird is soon discovered by a pair of women contracted for custodial work at the school, Maria (Vivian El Jaber) and her granddaughter Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio), the latter naming it Juan Salvador. They will keep the teacher’s secret, and they are able to get Juan Salvador to finally eat the sprats Tom has been bringing home from a nearby fishmonger. Alfonsina Carrocio, left, Steve Coogan and Vivian El Jaber share a scene in "The Penguin Lessons." (Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics) With pressure being applied by Buckle to improve the students’ performances, Tom on a whim brings Juan Salvador into the classroom, and, suddenly, his pupils are very engaged. This becomes a regular occurrence, with the bird, adorably, matching his master’s path up and back through the rows of desks. Steve Coogan's Tom uses a penguin, Juan Salvador, to try to engage with his students in a scene from "The Penguin Lessons." (Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics) Also cute: Juan Salvador becomes a peng-chologist, if you will, visitors to Tom’s terrace making use of what seems to be a willingness on the part of the creature to listen to what’s troubling them. However, there are higher stakes at play in “The Penguin Lessons” than whether Buckle will discover the existence of Juan Salvador. Men representing the government are kidnapping those they see as resistors, and when one such person Tom cares about is snatched only feet from him, he must deal with the fact he didn’t try to stop it, as feeble as such an attempt may have been. Related Articles Movies | 49th Cleveland International Film Fest preview: New leadership’s soft reboot Movies | ‘Ash’ review: Flying Lotus shows promise helming sci-fi-horror offering Movies | ‘The Alto Knights’ review: De Niro does double duty in decent mob movie Movies | ‘Black Bag’ review: Engaging spy thriller gives us sex, lies and treason Movies | ‘The Electric State’ review: Russo brothers’ adaptation has no spark Those more serious elements were added for the film, according to its production notes, and the choice gives needed weight to Tom’s character arc — even as we eventually learn about something in his past that helps to explain why he is the way he is at this stage in life. A comedic actor, Coogan (“Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa,” “Stan & Ollie”) gives an understated performance, which largely pays off, even if “The Penguin Lessons” could use a downright hilarious moment or two. Likewise, “The Full Monty” director Cattaneo is steady at the helm, allowing the film's dry humor space to breathe. On the other hand, we wonder if “The Penguin Lessons” may have benefited from more than the cursory efforts of Pope (“Philomena”) to develop any of Tom’s students as characters. Aside from David Herrero’s initially picked-upon Diego having an impactful moment in an emotional late stretch of the film, there’s nothing of note in that area. Cattaneo and Coogan, especially, largely were at the mercy of two actual penguins, Baba and Richard, for most of the shoot. While the production employed a puppet and a robot penguin here and there, mainly it was the two little actors who were in charge — much as Juan Salvador is, in a way, in the narrative — with Cattaneo saying “an unorthodox, naturalistic approach” was needed to make the film work. Well, it works. Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but we’re looking forward to whatever waddles our way in 2026. Can we penguin, er, pencil in something for January? ‘The Penguin Lessons’ Where: Theaters. When: March 28. Rated: PG-13 for strong language, some sexual references and thematic elements. Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes. Stars (of four): 3. ...read more read less