Napoleon Dynamite

Please note that this review has an addendum at the end...rather than re-write the entire review, I decided to revise my rating and provide an additional paragraph detailing why

I first saw a preview for Napoleon Dynamite about 3 months ago, when I went to see The Ladykillers. I was immediately intrigued by the character that was Napoleon Dynamite. With a thick red afro, a wardrobe that spoke F.O.B., and a monotone voice that was at once hilarious and obnoxiously nerdy, I knew this was a film I would have to see.

Directed by newcomer Jared Hess, Napoleon Dynamite is a story about everything that makes being a teenager suck. Be it the battle to fit in, the angst that comes when things don't go the way you want, or dealing with the opposite sex, Hess explores all of these things in a way that is both heartening and funny.

The film takes place in Iowa, where Napoleon (Jon Heder) lives with his older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell), who spends his days in online chat rooms "talking to babes" who send him "full body shots" if he's lucky. He also lives with his grandmother, who is disposed of early on in the movie as an excuse for Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to show up.

Rico is just as sad as Napoleon is; he's living in 1982, still believing he should have been in a high school football game, and had he been, he would have won the state title, gone pro, and made millions. He sells not only Tupperware door to door, but breast enlargement pills as well, which only works to enhance the fact that he is very much behind the times. There's a swarmy kind of feel to Rico; for some reason he reminds me of the roll Penn Jillette played in a Run DMC music video two decades ago. Gries plays the character to perfection.

But of course, the crux of the film is Napoleon Dynamite, a young man with, as he puts it, no "skills." He draws ligers, talks about taking bikes "off sweet jumps" ("dude, you got like 3 feet of air that time"), and lives what amounts to a miserable teenage life. His voice is the epitome of teenage apathy, and in essence, you almost feel like the character is built on the voice, rather than the other way around.

Napoleon finally finds a friend in Pedro (Efren Ramirez), who he helps run for class president against the uber-popular Summer (Haylie Duff, sister of Hilary), who claims that if she's elected, "it will be summer all year long (talk about the perfect actress to utter a line like that)." He also manages to develop a crush on Deb (Tina Majorino), but since he is paralyzed with fear, Pedro swoops in and asks her out first.

As his brother and uncle make money, and as his brother's online girlfriend Lafawnda shows up, Napoleon finds himself wanting more and more to just be left alone. Instead, he and his uncle play a game of one-upmanship that ultimately results in a pretty funny confrontation. With Pedro feeling as if he has no chance of winning the election, Napoleon steps up and becomes the hero of the day. You knew that much was coming, but it's in how he does it that makes it so effective and funny.

The film is extremely funny, though not as funny as the two obnoxious girls in the theatre would make you believe. They reminded me of the black girl in the first Scary Movie (though these were both white blondes), the one that gets stabbed by the audience repeatedly because she won't shut the f*ck up. Part of me was almost hoping they would be parked close enough to me so I could let them know what I thought of them. God they were stupid (this rant over). It does however, suffer from some pacing problems, and it is rather slow in developing. However, there are somg big big laughs here (the "security" scene is priceless), and ultimately, you can't help but root for Napoleon, and by extension, Pedro.

With that being said, I was expecting a little bit more out of this film, but I still found it to be worth my money. For that, I'll give it 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

UPDATE 1/10/05

I've recently revised my rating for this film. I realized that once you realize that there is essentially no real plot, you enjoy the film much more on repeated viewings. Add in how quotable the film is, and it's a solid 4 star film. The added wedding scene at the end of the credits is also a big winner.

The DVD doesn't have much in the line of special features, though it does feature the original 8 minute skit that inspired the film. The skit isn't quite as funny as much of the movie, but you definitely begin to see the character of Napoleon being developed.