Posted: 05/12/2004

Napoleon Dynamite

(2004)

by Alexander Rojas

I have discovered a film that I knew nothing about coming into this year and it completely blew me away. Every year if we’re lucky enough we will have a few of these and for me Napoleon Dynamite is that film. The film made its premiere at Sundance this year and garnered great reviews. Fox Searchlight saw the potential in it and bought the film right away for $3 million. Napoleon Dynamite is the feature length directorial debut of 25-year-old Jared Hess. After the success of his 9 minute short Peluca at the Slamdance Film Festival, Hess was encouraged to turn his short into a feature length film. I myself am grateful he did. Napoleon Dynamite is sincerely one of the funniest films I have ever seen and every scene will make you smile or laugh out loud.

Napoleon Dynamite (John Heder) is NOT just a nerd or a geek or a dweeb or a dork. He’s all those things and then some, living life on a whole different plane than anyone else in Preston, Idaho. He has a fascination for medieval warriors and an obsession with unicorns. The world around him is made up of a meager looking 32-year-old brother, Kip (Aaron Ruell), that fancies himself an online Romero and Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) who is stuck in his glory football stardom days of 1982. Uncle Rico comes to look after Napoleon and Kip after their sole guardian, Grandma, suffers a dune boogie accident. Napoleon soon meets the new kids at school, Pedro (Efren Ramirez), a recent Mexican immigrant that looks just as out of place in the town as Napoleon feels. Pedro is a mostly quiet companion with droopy eyes, a blank stare and a killer mustache. Both boys are as equally matched in their outcast style by Deb (Tina Majorino), a mostly quirky and colorful young girl that becomes a love interest of sorts for both of them. During a school dance that exclaims everything ‘80’s, Pedro is motivated to run for school president. His opponent for class president is Summer (Haylie Duff), the peppy popular girl that has every chance to win. Unwilling to let Pedro lose and be humiliated by this experience, Napoleon uses all the skills he can muster up to help his friend in his time of desperate need.

The look and feel of the film is so detailed to 80’s and 90’s culture, the school dance itself might trigger flashbacks for 30-somethings. The art direction of this film portrays the sometime 10-year gap between mainstream culture and small town culture that exists in today’s society. One other example is a boy band song that is used during a school performance. This is the kind of humor that feels like a live action Simpsons episode. It’s that good.

All the performances are impressive in this film. Jon Heder brings out a frustrated and angered performance from Napoleon. However, what is much more impressive is Heder’s subtle portrayal of Napoleon’s charm and care. Although Napoleon seems to be an odd and angry kid at first, his relationship with Pedro demonstrates a side of Napoleon that values friendship and loyalty. That itself is the essence of the film.

Before I went into the theater to experience this wonderful film, I heard many comparisons to The Royal Tenenbaums. That in itself is quite a compliment, but Napoleon Dynamite does not need any comparisons, it stands on its own as a great film. Simply said, I loved LOVED this film and everyone should go see it a hundred times when it is released.

Alexander Rojas is a critic for Film Monthly, and he loves films like Napoleon Dynamite.

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