Napoleon Dynamite

Image credit: Filmow

Sometimes there are movies that you just had to watch in their hey-day, any later and they just don’t work. I just sat down and watched Napoleon Dynamite for the first time and I think that it’s a film that definitely falls under the reach of that umbrella.

It tells the story of a bland and oblivious geek (Jon Hader) trying to navigate his way through high school and life. His comfortable existence is shaken when his grandmother has an accident and his Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) comes to stay, roping his brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) into an independent door-to-door sales scheme. Along with the drama at home, Napoleon has to battle bullies, getting a date for the dance, and helping his best friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) run for class president.

When it came out Napoleon Dynamite was being celebrated everywhere: it was a real staple of pop culture. From what I can remember it paved the way for a new kind of dry comedy for a younger audience as well as pioneered the popular geek-chic character that we continue to see today –though ever more entertaining. What the movie does in lieu of any real story, character development, or performances worthy of acclaim is celebrate teenage awkwardness and earnestness and it became a movie that gained success through the memes and catchphrases it spawned.

Set in a small American town there is a reflective element to this movie that is mildly interesting in that the story and characters and the ‘drama’ that occurs are so dry and bland that they blend in with the arid landscape. There’s also a slightly fun and ironic play with the idea of time and bygone eras: Napoleon and Kit are obviously modern boys yet they live in a world that has a strong 70s vibe. Uncle Rico’s character has the quirk of wanting to buy a time machine and travel back to his glory days of 1982, which he could have done by just going to the school dance where crimped hair and puffy sleeves reigned supreme. It’s a modern movie, but it’s also some weird melancholy time warp.

Image credit: Twitter

Jon Hader’s portrayal of a kid who wants to be dramatic but just can’t really be bothered is worth a chuckle, but his deadpan delivery and constant daze can quickly become tiresome. Practically the entire cast of characters take their cues from Hader and tromp around in a heavy daze while delivering dialogue with no emotional depth. Sure it's deliberate, but that doesn't make it groundbreaking.

As far as comedies go, Napoleon Dynamite is definitely not the be-all or end-all film to watch and it definitely doesn’t get better with age.

Starring: Jon Hader, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Dietrich Bader, Sandy Martin, Trevor Snarr, Tina Majorino, and Haylie Duff