Napoleon Dynamite

You Must See Napoleon Dynamite!

Napoleon Dynamite is a movie that "mature" film critics panned. The movie cost $400,000 to make, which is a lot of money to us but next to nothing in the movie business. The movie was not a hit at the box office either. But last month when it came out on DVD, my daughter brought it home and insisted I watch it. I put it off until late fees were hanging over my head.

To say the movie is a comedy almost makes you feel guilty. The characters do not try to be funny, they just are. The movie is about life in a little town in Idaho and centers around the lives of Napoleon Dynamite and his brother, Kip. The movie has plenty of geeky characters but unlike other teen movies, the geeks are not created for us to mock. Instead, we are brought into their world and, I admit, I began to identify with the characters more and more. It brought back some memories from my high school days.

Without giving too much away, Napoleon and his brother Kip live with their grandmother. Napoleon is in high school. He is a nerd who draws primitive pictures of fantasy creatures, imagines himself to have "skills" like using a martial arts "bow", and does not quite fit in with the "in" crowd at school. The neat thing is, he doesn't really want to. Now don't take offense but some of his quirks would remind you of a person with Asperger Syndrome (obsessions, social ineptness, clumsiness, monotone voice). He meets several characters that become his friends in the friendless world of high school: Pedro is a Mexican immigrant who becomes his best friend. Deb is a photographer and student who becomes a love interest. Pedro's cousins, who take on a charming protectorate role for Napoleon.

Kip Dynamite is another complete movie. He is 32 and stays at home "chatting with babes on the Internet" all day while he also trains to be a "cage fighter". His first attempt at training in Tae Kwon Do is hillarious. He winds up meeting a woman and I will save it for the movie to introduce her to you. She is priceless!

Uncle Rico comes to stay with Napoleon and Kip when their grandmother is injured in a dune buggy accident (how many times have we seen that tired old plot line?). Uncle Rico is stuck in 1982 and even tries out a "time machine" he bought on the Internet with understated results. He will remind you of many of your uncles or relatives that just never quite live up to their potential but have plenty of ideas.

Pedro is a Mexican immigrant whose quiet ways fit in well with Napoleon's eccentricities. He winds up competing with the most popular girl in school for class president. One of his qualifications for class president is that he is the only one at school with a mustache. Will he win? I will leave that to the movie but I predict you will see "Vote for Pedro" tee shirts all over soon.

Their adventures are really just every day occurrences but because of the character's quirks, the result is low-key, dry hillarity. Everyone will not like Napoleon Dynamite but I believe your kids will. I predict you will all be hearing phrases from the movie in your homes soon. "Sweet!" "You idiot!" "I'm T-O'd!"

The movie is rated PG. There is not one cuss word in it. There is no nudity or sex. It is just a sweet, funny movie that the whole family can enjoy. It doesn't make fun of anybody. It doesn't hurt anybody - well, there is this cow - but I'll save that for the movie. Rent it soon - you will buy it eventually! Enjoy.

~GJH~(1-6-2005)