| Home | Movies A-M | Movies N-Z | News |
Poster (c) Fox Searchlight
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.
Review Date: August 6, 2004