|
||
| A trademark of all teenage movies seems to be the �High School Dork�. Napoleon Dynamite revels in this stereotype, the main character being a lanky boy with an impossibly curly ginger afro and large glasses as well as what seems to be a permanent gormless expression. The story is relatively simple: geeky Napoleon and his even worse older brother Kip are left with their Uncle Rico when their grandmother injures herself. Of course, their vain dodgy salesman uncle causes problems for Napoleon, who is already getting beaten up at school and constantly laughed at. It seems natural then that he becomes friends with shy Mexican boy Pedro and equally shy amateur photographer Deb, and works to help Pedro in his campaign for class President. The film has some absolutely classic laugh-out-loud moments that could have been lifted straight from The Simpsons and there are lots of quick scene changes, each making their point and punch line absolutely clear. The humour isn�t dirty or slapstick, but seems to laugh at its own nerdiness. You seem at times to be laughing with the film rather than at it. The ending is sweet and satisfying as well, wrapping up all loose ends rather neatly. A nice film altogether, but those looking for something more plot-driven should look elsewhere; what little plot there is doesn�t really feature much, the focus being more on the characters and quotable one-liners. Altogether a potential cult classic. | ||
|