Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

He's out to prove he's got nothing to prove.

Starring: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Diedrich Bader, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Haylie Duff, Trevor Snarr, Shondrella Avery, Bracken Johnson, Carmen Brady, Ellen Dubin, J.C. Cunningham, James Smooth

Director: Jared Hess

Running Time: 82 minutes

US MPAA rating: PG
UK BBFC rating: PG
Comedy

Preston, Idaho, the present. After their tough grandmother (Sandy Martin) is injured in a dune-buggy accident, nerdy Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) and his even nerdier 32-year old brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) are left in the dubious care of Uncle Rico (Jon Gries), a sleazy door-to-door salesman who is "living too much in '82". Almost by default, Napoleon meets and befriends new socially-excluded Mexican student Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and geeky amateur photographer Deb (Tina Majorino), and the odd trio manage, against all probability, to have something like a good time together at the school dance. So when hangdog Pedro decides to run in the election for school president against the popular Summer (Haylie Duff), Napoleon offers to help using all his special skills…

The debut feature of director Jared Hess (who co-wrote it with his wife Jerusha), 'Napoleon Dynamite' is a colourfully skew-eyed portrait of extreme misfits, retro kitsch and cultural cringe in rural America - but it is cursed with taking recognisable elements from other films that are better than it is. Like Todd Solondz's 'Welcome to the Dollhouse' (1995), it shows the difficulties faced by school misfits - but without the same venom. Like Alexander Payne's 'Election' (1999), it focusses on a contest for school president - but without the same political satire. And like Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's American Splendor (2003), it shows the occasional superheroics of ordinary life - but without the same reflective intelligence. Still, the film must be admired for combining so many ideas into something like a unified whole - and it IS a lot better than the 'Revenge of the Nerds' franchise.

Its biggest problem (arguably a problem with all films in the 'victorious geek' genre) is its very mixed message. For 'Napoleon Dynamite' seems more content to demean and ridicule its übernerd protagonist than to engage our sympathies for him. We are never really invited 'in' to Napoleon's world, but just left to gawp from the sidelines at his alien antics, for he is, from beginning to end, so consistently otherworldly and insulated from reality that whatever interior life he may have remains entirely inaccessible, making any kind of empathy or identification with him impossible. Looking at the world through bespectacled eyes that are almost completely shut, reacting to everything - good or bad - with the same pained expression, barely seeming even to register his own final moment of triumph, and spending most of his time talking about fantasy beasts and nunchaku skills, Napoleon seems to inhabit a world from which the viewer is forever excluded - which makes him far easier to laugh at than laugh with, despite the film's pretensions to championing outsiders. Add to this the fact that Napoleon seems borderline retarded, and all the jokes at his expense might leave you feeling, upon reflection, more than a little uncomfortable - even if at the time they do seem very funny indeed.

What is touching, however, and perhaps the film's central theme, is the strength, however strangely expressed, of the friendship between Napoleon, Deb and Pedro, and the different favours which the three do to support each other once they have gravitated together into a unit. This, more than the myriad of throwaway subplots involving ripoff time-machines, martial arts classes, tupperware, internet dating, hungry llamas and herbal breast enhancers, is what remains memorable about 'Napoleon Dynamite' - while the scene in which Napoleon finally achieves his heroic triumph is so miraculously unhinged that you really will be left believing that "all your wildest dreams will come true".

It's Got: Lots of people saying "dang", "sweey" and "jeez", the phrase "our underwater ally" applied to the loch Ness monster, a ham-eating llama called Tina, 'Dance Grooves' videos, magical ligers, chickens with "large talons", egg juice, a perfect politician's wig, performances without cinematic parallel from Jon Heder as Napoleon and the mighty Efren Ramirez as Pedro - and of course 'Rex Kwon Do'.

It Needs: Not to ridicule its main character quite so much - it seems uncomfortably close to laughing at someone for being autistic, retarded, or just plain disturbed.

Alternatives: 'Revenge of the Nerds', 'Welcome to the Dollhouse', 'Election', American Splendor

Summary: A colourfully skew-eyed portrait of extreme misfits, retro kitsch and cultural cringe in rural America, with a main character who is truly unique. Overall Score: 6 out of 10

Review Date: 9th December 2004

Image Gallery

There are 7 images available in our gallery. Click on the thumbnail pictures for the full size images or view the full gallery

External Links

Official Web Site
Napoleon Dynamite at the IMDB

Windows Media

Trailer 30K | Trailer 100K

Clips

To download, right click and save media as….

Sweet Jumps (30K) | Sweet Jumps (100K)
Do you dare me to go talk to her (30K) | Do you dare me to go talk to her (100K)
Full Body Shot (30K) | Full Body Shot (100K)

Napoleon Dynamite – the oh so sweet Jon Heder interview

Interview 30K | Interview 100K

Comments

22 Comments

what the heck is this strong thing anyway?

ND is a great movie that is actually just disguised as a fair movie. Look between the lines, beyond the forest, beneath the skin, and above the eyebrows and it will become clear

Comment by:- | | 22 December 2004 | ip: logged

how is strong different from bold

sorry to use your site to test this. i'm nu at this and i realy do like your revews

Comment by:- | | 22 December 2004 | ip: logged

its friggin awesome.

Comment by:- | | 26 December 2004 | ip: logged

I think the review is missing the confidence in the characters.

In the beginning, everyone is introduced as pretty pathetic, hopeless people. With the end, you can see that everyone-Pedro, Deb, Napoleon, Kip, and even Uncle Rico-all find their inner confidence.

Plus, it's a pretty LDS movie anyway

Comment by:- | | 26 December 2004 | ip: logged

This movie is flippin awesome. It is like the best of all time. I wish i was just like Napolien because he is tight. Hes my hero. This is the best movie I have ever seen. I love the dialogue that is used in this movie. Yah theres like a but load of gangs at this school, one wants me to join because im pretty good with a bostaff. And i love the animal the liger to its pretty much my favorite animal to. Well peace ouT. WORD TO YOUR MOTHER.

Comment by:- | | 28 December 2004 | ip: logged

Napoleon Dynamite is one of the greatest movies of all time. When you watch this, you realize all of the special effects and cussing that other movies have, is not needed. One of the best things about this film is the dialogue, "You're mom goes to college" and "Tina you fat lard, come get some dinner". It's flippin sweet.

Comment by:- | | 28 December 2004 | ip: logged

Napoleon Dynamite is THE greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Not really, well ya, pretty much. It celebrates the ordinary and I think that's friggin awesome. And plus, it's totally sweet because it has no bad language in it or stuff like that and Napoleon is really hot.

Comment by:- | | 28 December 2004 | ip: logged

Its Flippin great!

Comment by:- Anonymous | | 29 December 2004 | ip: logged

napoleon is the freekin kewl
it shows like my life growing up in
a small iowa town as a space peanut(geek) in the late 80's pleez check this movie out

Comment by:- Anonymous | | 30 December 2004 | ip: logged

it was the best movie ever made it was flippin awsome yah

Comment by:- Anonymous | | 30 December 2004 | ip: logged

I enjoyed this movie from the beginning. The fact that it did not include sex or foul language made it even more enjoyable and a family film it is. "Anyone wanna bet I can through this football over that mountain?" Thats the best! Gauwd!

Comment by:- Anonymous | | 30 December 2004 | ip: logged

wtf u people talking about? it seems all u people see movies in 2 ways, ones that have sex and foul language, and this piece of crap movie so called napoleon dynamite. there are other movies that are WAYYY better htan this waste of money and do not have sex or foul language in it. U posers who "want" to be like napoleon, omg, shut the hell up. this movie sucked.