A Review by Phil Calabro
*** #10 - TOP 10 OF 2004 ***
2004, Fox Searchlight/Paramount/MTV Films, Dir. Jared Hess, 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
Napoleon Dynamite is a loser. He is a lanky, spectacled, awkward nerd with a red afro and nasal-produced voice. He lives out in the middle of nowhere, feeds his family's pet llama, and gloats about how he hunted wolverines and met up with his hot girlfriend from Oklahoma. First-time director Hess has put us in an interesting position. Imagine a group of frat guys sitting around each other, until one farts - everybody laughs and recognizes the fact that he farted. Although a little less immature, 'Napoleon Dynamite' is full of offbeat yet prompt humor. But in the same aspect, our audiences will find this certain loser to be quite a winner. Napoleon Dynamite, the guy who's out to prove that he's got nothing prove, has proved one thing for sure - this movie is quirky, amusing, and generally hilarious.
Our hero Napoleon (Heder) lives in Preston, Idaho, with his grandmother (Martin) and 31-year old brother Kip (Ruell). He becomes friends with a Mexican exchange student Pedro (Ramirez) around the same time as his Uncle Rico (Gries) moves into the house with him, since his grandmother broke her back after a motorcycle derby race. Napoleon has a lot to deal with in life - and a lot that he wishes he could deal with. He meets a sweet young girl named Deb (Majorino), who gives him fashion advice and even offers him some free glamour shots, until they soon fall slowly in love. But his Uncle Rico is giving him a hard time every day, trying to get him to take part in his infomercial job selling breast enhancers. Meanwhile, he also has to help Pedro win the job of student council president through his wicked poster-making skills.
Jon Heder must either be a nerd in real life, or just play one really really well. He steals every scene with his goofy demeanor and nature, especially the tone of his voice. He spends his days dreaming about having wild nunchuck skills, learning some funky dance moves, and trying his best to mack on some girls. But everything he says and does comes across as a big joke, which works just fine for the movie. He's a stereotyped yet polite contrast of school life - nerd vs. jock - you can understand how he may be feeling even through a period of silence, which shows something important about character development on Heder's part. Aaron Ruell follows up just as well as his nerdy brother, who then falls in love with the ultimate soul sister LaFawnduh he met online. Also props go to Jon Gries, for being the uncle Rico who has never left the 1980s - he reminds me of a mix between car salesman and the character Jack Tripper from 'Three's Company'.
The direction takes us in a place where no nerd movie has gone before. It puts several films, such as Revenge of the Nerds and its sequels, to utter shame. Director Jared Hess sets the surroundings to be equal with our main characters - boring, desolete, and ugly. The setting of Idaho is perfect - it's the forgotten Gem State, that one state nestled in between Montana and Washington State, almost like the fashion of Napoleon. He's left out of the crowd in the most boring, deserted area in the country - you know you've dropped to a new low at that point. The humming soundtrack reminded me much of the thyramin from the 2000 adaptation of Bartleby, with its slow quiet tune that fits the characters well, not to mention the entirely 80's set of tunes to fit the nostalgic mood of all the social events. What school dance today plays 'Forever Young' by Alphaville anymore? It's the little things that make 'Napoleon' such a great film. Not to forget, the ending to this movie is possibly the best ending of 2004 - it's all feel-good, all wild, footloose-and-fancyfree. I can't give anything away, but just remember that before you watch it.
Not only well made, but fun for everyone to watch, the entire audience will feel so good at the finale, it's practically impossible not to like it. We're all a bit like Napoleon Dynamite in a way, we're imaginative, curious, and 'cool', as we like to think. Definitely one of the best and funniest films I have seen this year, and worth a viewing for all.
