Making its way into theaters two years after it was filmed, Penelope is a gender-switched “Beauty and the Beast” update that exudes an anxious cuteness but is finally neither amusing or appealing enough to be worth the obvious labor the filmmakers put into it.

Another spring, another Will Ferrell sports comedy. I admit to being surprised after checking with imdb.com to see that there have only been three of these (or four if you count Kicking and Screaming along with Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory): It sure seems like a lot more. Maybe it’s that Ferrell’s comic persona has become so rigid, the boob who thinks he’s smart just because he’s successful. It’s what made his George Bush the highlight of his stint on Saturday Night Live, and Anchorman his best movie. In Semi-Pro, he’s Jackie Moon, owner/manager/player of a Flint American Basketball Association franchise. Moon bought the team with the profits from a one-shot hit single, and has tried to keep it alive through promotion more than athletic skills. But there are more people on the court than in the stands at their games, and when the ABA decides to merge with the NBA, the Flint Tropics are scheduled for dissolution.