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by Max Braden Published: June 24, 2004
"There are all different kinds of nerds, and this is just one of them," said actor John Heder of his character at the FilmFest DC screening of the off-beat high school comedy, "Napoleon Dynamite." True enough, it's Napoleon's particular, pathetic breed of nerd that inspires us to laugh at him and his environment without feeling too badly about it. "Napoleon Dynamite" is one of the best movies of this year and one of the funniest teen comedies in over a decade. With the exception of 1999's "10 Things I Hate About You" and "American Pie" and 1995's "Clueless," there haven't been any good high-school genre comedies since the heyday of the 1980s. Especially ones featuring lovable losers. But even when grouped with the 80s crowd, Napoleon stands alone. His moon boots pale against Duckie's shoes. He's no "Breakfast Club" brain. No hot car, no emerging Lane Myer sporting skills, no money stashed to afford his dream date. He doodles, akin to Hoops McCan, but who's going to be impressed by unicorns? He can actually ... dance ... per se, but would have probably been laughed out of the "Footloose" prom. There's no overarching story to "Napoleon Dynamite." This is a day-in-the-life presentation, much like "Ferris Beuller's Day Off" except without the ambition, cunning, great locations, friends, or style. Napoleon wouldn't bother pursuing the hottest girl in the school even if he thought he could get her. There's no bully to outwit and not much in the way of a Big Competition. But the movie is far from dull. Napoleon's challenges are manifested in the people ("Idiots!") that surround him. Napoleon lives with his older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell, in his first role) in their grandmother's house. Both are tall, lanky, with a hang-dog gleam in their eyes and on-the-edge-of-boredom speech patterns. Droopy Dog in human form. Kip, all of about 130 pounds, is planning for a career as a cage fighter. The two take up a free lesson of tae kwon do, but no amount of training would turn either of these guys into anything but alley meat. When the fighter thing doesn't work out for Kip, he joins up with their visiting Uncle Rico (Jon Gries, who played the great supernerd Lazlo Hollyfeld in 1985's "Real Genius"). Rico can't break with the past, constantly talking up his glory days as a high school star quarterback. Napoleon finds him annoying, but Rico enlists Kip to help sell Tupperware and other products door to door, chiding Napoleon for his lack of financial foresight. Not exactly a "Risky Business," enterprise. Napoleon does find a peer in Pedro (Efren Ramirez), the new kid in school, a heavily bouffonted latino who seems even more on the verge of dozing off than Napoleon. For the approaching school dance, Pedro decides to ask out his object of affection by making her a cake. Napoleon follows suit, attempting to impress a girl by sketching her portrait. "It's pretty much the best thing I've ever done" he says of his work. It's tragically hideous. But she reluctantly accepts (under pressure by her mother, a client of Uncle Rico's), and Napoleon decks himself out in the worst ("it's incredible") brown three-piece 1970s leftover in town. The prom dates fizzle and it's Deb (Tina Majorino, who appeared in "Waterworld"), a nerd of the girl kind with whom Napoleon eventually finds a soulmate, after he's put her through ridicule once or twice. As an additional afterthought, Pedro puts his name on the ballot for class president. Napoleon agrees to promote Pedro's campaign and be his bodyguard, because Napoleon has skills and stuff. This results in the funniest moment of the film, when Napoleon spices up Pedro's dry campaign speech with a spontaneous solo dance routine in front of the whole school. Nobody moves like Napoleon, believe me. An additional humorous part of the movie other than the characters is the setting itself. At first glance, it appears that writer-director Jared Hess chose to set the story in the early 1980s, enhanced by the film's low-budget look. The clothes, the houses, the ancient VCR, Napoleon's moon boots, are all vintage. Kip and Rico buy a time machine that looks like an elementary schooler's mockup of the flux capacitor. But clues here and there lead the audience to realize that the town of Preston, Idaho and its inhabitants are simply on a slower timeline than everyone else. Kip flirts via computer with a girl "in cyberspace". The school dance features Alphaville's 1984 song "Forever Young," but Napoleon later moves to Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat" (itself based on a disco beat that wouldn't have been so out of place in the early 80s.) A Preston native, Jared Hess came up with the concept of "Napoleon Dynamite" while at Brigham Young University. The title character's name comes from a real individual that Hess happened to meet. This is his first feature. It must have been a challenge to describe the story and character to others before shooting, and a risk to pull off correctly. Whatever Hess envisioned for Napoleon, school friend Heder brought to life brilliantly. His nerd is an honest lens on the embarrassment most of us probably were but refused to acknowledge during high school. The rest of the cast does an equally excellent job of keeping the subdued humor working throughout the movie. When I saw the film, the young Idaho natives sitting next to me were there for their second viewing and said that the humor and tone was right on, beaming with pride over the depiction of Idaho life as the butt of the joke. "Napoleon Dynamite" was released in selected cities on June 11 and is expanding slowly. Check the well done website for pictures and audio from the movie, and for showtimes near you. This is a very funny movie that deserves your visit to the theater. Go and enjoy - I certainly did. Grade: A Rated PG 1 hr 26 min. Theatrical release: June 11, 2004 in selected cities Official website |
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