Classic Movie Review: 'Napoleon Dynamite'

Starting at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival we began hearing raves about a little $400,000 dollar indie called Napoleon Dynamite. The film about a nerdy Idaho kid and his weird family and friends became a hit at arthouses and online where fan-sites spouted dialogue and debated the film’s deeper meanings even before the film became a mainstream smash. Once Napoleon Dynamite did hit the mainstream in wide release the hype proved to be very real, Napoleon Dynamite was a phenomenon.

The film went on to gross more than $46 million dollars and spawned parodies, Halloween costumes, dance imitations, and even a Napoleon Dynamite Festival in the tiny town of Preston, Idaho where the movie was set. Even 17 years later there is talk of a potential sequel to Napoleon Dynamite with star Jon Heder indicating he'd be interested in a darker and stranger look at the life of Napoleon Dynamite. Regardless of what direction a sequel might take, the original remains an iconic and timeless cult classic.

Napoleon Dynamite is unique because it is essentially plotless. Jon Heder plays Napoleon, a highly unlikable, antisocial misfit with thick glasses, snow boots in summer and a shock of orange curly hair that looks like a David Lynch creation. His family is equally odd. His brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) is a mousy nerd who spends all his time on the net chatting with his "girlfriend.” Both Kip and Napoleon are the type of guys who have girlfriends no one else has ever met.

Napoleon's uncle Rico (John Gries) is a traveling salesman who lives in his van and can't get over his high school memories of imagined football glory, he never actually got on the field. Then there is Napoleon's grandmother, unseen for most of the film after she is injured in an extreme sports accident. Napoleon's only friend is Pedro (Effren Ramirez), a new kid in town who seems shy and reserved but has no fear when asking out Summer (Haylie Duff), the most popular girl in school. She turns him down.

Despite being highly unlikable, Napoleon still attracts the attention of Deb (Tina Majorino) who sells crafts door to door and takes glamour shot photos. What she sees in Napoleon is anyone’s guess, but hey it's a movie. It's not necessarily a romance but this is not necessarily a movie where any kind of conventional plot is involved.

The key to Napoleon Dynamite is getting through the rather dreary first 25 minutes of the film. Once you get past the introductions, writer/director Jared Hess quietly begins piling absurdity on top of absurdity until the film’s climax, which is an absolute laugh riot of a dance sequence. The film is structured so that every odd detail leads to another and the laughter builds to the climax by which time you just can't stop laughing.

The whole thing is played completely seriously. Deadpan is an understatement, every outlandish detail from Napoleon's hip hop dance lessons and Pedro's campaign for class President to Rico and Kip's time machine are all played without a hint of irony. There are plenty of other quirky subplots like Kip's girlfriend, Deb's glamour shots and the school dance.

The strangeness extends to the film’s setting, a small town in Idaho on the Utah border, which looks entirely stuck in the 80's. All of the characters, especially Napoleon, look as if they were alien time travelers from 1983. The only way to tell the film is not from the 80's are references to the Internet and the film’s unusual pop soundtrack. The timelessness is just another in a film overflowing with quirks.

Jared Hess and his cast do not condescend to winking at the audience and that makes every layer of weirdness that much funnier. These characters are completely committed to every little oddity, every bizarre detail in this story. Even Haylie Duff has a scene where her dignity is tossed to the wind and she plays it as straight as possible with no pop star pretension.

Jon Heder is terrific as Napoleon especially considering that he is never likable. Napoleon is rude, dull-witted and not the most handsome guy. He has zero social skills, it's truly a chore to root for him and yet by the film’s climactic dance sequence you can't help but cheer him on. That is if you can stop laughing for a moment, which is hard.

Napoleon Dynamite is the kind of cult phenomenon that will be around for years to come. This one may not be for everyone but those who love it will watch it again and again. I know I will. Napoleon Dynamite has proven to be so beloved that the film is currently on a roadshow tour with cast members Jon Heder, Jon Gries and Efren Ramirez touring with the movie and doing Q and A sessions with the crowd after.

Napoleon Dynamite is the classic on the latest edition of the Everyone’s a Critic Movie Review Podcast dropping on your podcast feed on Monday, September 27th, 2021. If you want to catch Napoleon Dynamite on the road, visit TicketCity.com.