Everybody’s favorite angry elf Peter Dinklage is in the mood for love. The former Station Agent is joining the cast of a movie called Penelope, along with Catherine O’Hara, James McAvoy, and Richard E. Grant. The Mark Palansky directed movie already has Hayden Christiensen, Christina Ricci, and Oscar shoe-in Reese Witherspoon on board.

What’s Penelope? Variety describes it as a romantic fable, which sounds only slightly less weird than M. Night Shyamalan’s insistence on calling Lady in the Water a bedtime story. In Penelope, a pig-faced young woman (presumably played by Christina Ricci, because let’s face it, after kid number two Reese stopped being a young) must break the family curse which has given her swine-head in order to find true love.

The description in Variety is a little odd, but the cast is good enough that there’s reason to be interested whatever the plot. Reese has won new respect after Walk the Line, and Peter Dinklage (who plays a guy obsessed with photographing the main character) is an incredibly underrated actor. It’s rare to find a man of lesser size who can really act. Sure, there are plenty of diminutive performers in show business, but Dinklage is a real talent, and his talent has nothing to do with his height If you don’t believe me, take the time to seek out The Station Agent, where Dinklage gets a starring role. This guy needs more work, and I’m not just talking about obligatory midget roles. Playing a creepy photographic stalker isn’t exactly grade A material, but at least it’s a part in a major film. Better to see him here than shoved in another loser like The Baxter.