Napoleon Dynamite
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Directed by: Jared Hess
Reviewed by: Chris Dutcher
Rated: 4 out of 5 stars
“Gosh”! Napoleon Dynamite can be simply described as a low budget version of an odyssey. Napoleon (Jon Heder) is a non-popular teen who struggles with both social and home life. He lives with his grandmother (Sandy Martin) and his brother Kip (Aaron Ruell). But when grandma gets hurt in an accident, a family relative must step in to take care of Napoleon and Kip. Uncle Rico (Jon Gries), steps in and makes Napoleon’s life even worse. Kip and Uncle Rico both pair up and decide to make their own small business leaving Napoleon out of the picture. Napoleon meets many friends and enemies at school. Sided with his friend Pedro (Efren Ramierez) and his other friend Deb (Tina Majorino), they take on the popular kids in school.
Napoleon Dynamite is sort of like the Seinfeld of the movie Universe. It is a movie about nothing. It does not follow the format most movies go by. The movie was extremely low budget, but the comedy was what led to it success in the box office. The quirky humor of Napoleon and the randomness of some things makes the movie a laughable one. The movie also has one of the most unique opening scenes ever filmed. The opening scene is a bird’s eye view of hands placing various items on the table, and later in the film, a corresponding character is shown using or eating that same item. I would recommend this movie to anyone who doesn’t mind there being no action or a movie that is slow, but loves to laugh. Napoleon Dynamite will make you laugh, and learn what it means to be an underdog
