Napoleon Dynamite
Cast
N/A
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #2
6/10. The 1990s is often sited as the rise of independent film. With that
came a lot of offbeat films, some good, some not so good. But all of
them experimented with cinema not seen probably since Godard or even
Orson Welles. Over the last 15 or so years (and also largely thanks
to Miramax), independent films have become more mainstream. They
have critical approval, people flock to the theaters, and most don't
see eye-to-eye with the critics. Surprisingly, one that does not fit
that is Napoleon Dynamite. A film festival favorite and picked up by
Fox Searchlight, it drew mixed reviews from critics but, from the
audience where I was, everyone loved it. Kind of the reverse, it
seems. Again, like the aforementioned movies, I side with the
critics with Napoleon.
Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder), resident of Preston, Idaho, is an odd
sort. He and his family, which consists of computer addict Kip
(Aaron Ruell), Grandma (Sandy Martin), and Uncle Rico (Jon Gries),
live in a house that, like everything Napoleon has, wears, or does,
comes straight out of the 70s and 80s. The film chronicles some time
in the life of Napoleon, as his friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) runs
for class president against popular girl Summer (Haylie Duff), his
brother and uncle sell worthless products door-to-door, and he may
be falling in love with Deb (Tina Majorino). That's what you get
when you live in Idaho.
What makes Napoleon such an odd film is the title character himself.
His huge glasses, wild red afro, and gawky walk add to the epitome
of nerd. If there was a kid like this in real life, I doubt he'd
live through pre-school. But all of the characters and plot
occurences are complete cariacatures, making the whole movie over-
the-top and existing in its own alternate reality. This detachment
from reality is often used by Wes Anderson (the lack of a
recognizable time period, for example, paralleled The Royal
Tenenbaums). Therefore, Napoleon is often compared to Anderson
movies. I can see that, but this movie, and its characters, stand on
their own. Napoleon is such an oddball (with such obscenities
as "gosh", "flip", "heck" etc. played to maximum comedic effect)
that we can't help but wonder where he's going to go in his journey
in his small Idaho town.
On the flip side (no pun intended), Napoleon doesn't really have any
huge laughs. There's some funny moments, like Napoleon's admiration
of Pedro's jump on his bike and his comments to Deb on her milk, but
nothing huge. Considering the amount of laughter coming from the
audience where I was silent, I could see I was missing out on
something. If everyone else understood it, then what was I missing
out on? Maybe I was used to Napoleon and co. and didn't find every
single thing he did hilarious. Also, as the film's closing down, you
can set your watch by what's going to happen. I thought it would go
for a more offbeat ending, but it doesn't really. It's a little
funny, but still way too predictable for this movie.
Heder totally owns the movie here, with his somewhat deadpan,
completely over-the-top, completely odd role as Napoleon Dynamite.
Why a family would have the last name of Dynamite and name their kid
Napoleon is beyond me, but it's completely like his character. His
mannerisms, his speech, his looks work completely in sync and create
a truly memorable character. Next up on the hierarchy of the acting
is Ruell, reminding me of Toby from American Splendor, although
his "transformation" at the end of the film really annoyed me. It's
almost like the easy way out. Diedrich Bader is the largest name in
the cast and stars in a few scenes, although I think that with
a "large" name like that in there, it takes away from the low-
budget, independent film feeling that Napoleon has. I'll only
remember Bader's career as Oswald from The Drew Carey Show, Lawrence
from Office Space and the security guard from Jay and Silent Bob
Strike Back.
Napoleon Dynamite is not the type of film you'd expect to see at
your local multiplex, yet it is. This film gives hope to all of the
young nerd out there. No matter how bad things are, remember that
you could be Napoleon Dynamite.
Rated PG for thematic elements and language.
Running time: ? minutes
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