Napoleon Dynamite Review

4MlRx

Napoleon Dynamite is a slapstick cult comedy “classic” that parodies an isolated small american town. The star of the show is Napoleon Dynamite, and despite the name, he isn’t as explosive as you’d think. (His mannerisms can be questioned though, with his saliva spouting expressions.) With his moon boots, dinner-filled fanny pack and massive prescription glasses, he exemplifies an outcast that does no favours for himself.

Napoleon resides in a crowded bungalow with his physically drained older brother Kip, a computer fanatic that spends all of his time talking to his girlfriend Lafonda (a broadly build black woman from Detroit) online, his grandmother who occasionally calls home to see how her pet llama is doing, and his creepy uncle rick who is looking after the two fully grown adult children while subsequently dreaming about his football career that "could’ve been". Rick also drives a van, tells everybody to call him “uncle” and hands out flyers about breast growth. Interesting.

The movie takes it’s toll in Napoleon’s high school and focuses on the hierarchy between popular bombshell blondes, beefy jocks and suspender bearing geeks. We follow Dynamite and his mexican friend Pedro as they make friends with an awfully dressed portrait photographer called Deb and go to a school dance only to get ditched.

The absolutely FANTASTIC climax of the film is when Pedro runs for school president and wins with the help of Napoleon’s KILLER dance moves. (And I mean killer.)

With a cast of Caucasian people and two stereotypically ethnic characters, this family friendly movie made me laugh as if I was watching paint dry on a wall. It’s boring, but you find yourself chuckling hysterically as you wonder why you’re wasting mere hours of your life.

Most of the humour doesn’t quite hit the mark, but when it does, it’s endearing to see that they tried to make a joke when all of the characters are already gag-worthy. But I can see it’s appeal. It’s almost so bad, that the good parts of the movie make up for it. With awkward transitions filled with elevator-esque music and the empty silences that follow every joke, every second seems to grow on you. Like fungus, almost.

In conclusion, Napoleon Dynamite is a low budget film festival comedy with innuendos that aren’t hard to catch and a cast that exaggerates your typical american high school horror story which probably brings the older viewers nostalgia. It made me snort when Napoleon started to hip thrust. But that’s about it for me.