As a friend of mine says, "this film makes Rushmore look like a big-budget feature." It's a good analogy. Rushmore was a quirky, independent comedy, and so is this film. But there's one large difference. In too many spots in this film, I was thinking "um, was that supposed to be funny?" Even worse, things that are clearly supposed to be funny only elicit weak smiles. This is almost certainly due to the film's odd flavor. A geeky teenage boy, named Napoleon Dynamite for some unknown reason, is growing up in a small, boring town in Idaho surrounded by characters almost as odd as he is. Napoleon himself is a strange mixture of apathy and confidence, with a generous dollop of up-yours-ness. My most facile description of the plot is that it is like watching many stale rejects of Saturday Night Live skits. (This is especially true during interactions between Napoleon and his Mexican friend.) So, did I like anything? Sure, with caveats. There is one excellent scene towards the end which I can't say anything about, however it doesn't make the whole film worth it. It was impressive that they got Lazlo from Real Genius to play the weird uncle. And I'll give it marks for the inventive title sequence, which bodes well for what you're about to see and then lets you down.
year: 2004
length: 86 min.
rating: 2.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/combined
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
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After an unscientific random polling of most of my friends, I've discovered that this is definitely a film you either love or hate. I never saw it in the theatre, but I wish I had. This is one of those films that increases in hilarity by having someone to laugh with you as you watch it (admittedly, a great film should stand alone and be able to be watched alone, so I will not quibble with your 2.0 rating, although it rates higher in my own personal rating system which has yet to be devised). I did have a friend who didn't like it at all, and then told me just yesterday that she watched it with some friends and laughed through it the entire time. My son and I had to pause the DVD several different times the *first* time we watched it because we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. Why? Probably because we're nerds and spazzes ourselves. Hard core. I will admit to seeing this film five times and laughing harder each time I see it. I will soon be wearing my own "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt in the privacy of my own home. What can I say? I "got" it. Not everyone who watches this film does. Kat, I hope sometime in your future (I know, I know, so many movies, so little time) that you might have a chance to see this movie again and forgive its numerous flaws long enough to revel in its absurd randomness. "Do the chickens have large talons?" "I already made like infinity of those at Scout camp." "Knock it off Napoleon. Make yourself a dang case-a-dilla."
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