Review of Napoleon Dynamite

The atmosphere of Napoleon Dynamite is very peculiar, with downplayed arid PG-squeaky clean style humor. It's not that raunchy. It's not really that mean-spirited. It's not toilet humor. It's not really physical slapstick comedy. Last, and most of all, it's not full of shout outs or pop culture references. It's just surreal. Napoleon Dynamite's humor works, because how confusing and strange, it is. It remind me, so much of a Wes Anderson's comedy film with its tone. It's quite quirky in its writing, with the large amount of awkward characters and largely unrelated absurdism sequences. However, Napoleon Dynamite doesn't have the same weight as a Wes Anderson film. There isn't anything, I can say, that was really emotional. Yes, there is parental abandonment, sibling rivalry, and unlikely friendships, but there is little to no depth with those themes. I get that Hess was trying to tell the story of how all the characters in the movie are refusing to grow up, but the whole message of them, trying to change is murky at best. It's really seem like they weren't going anywhere in the character development area. They're pretty much, act the same from the start of the film to the end. Despite that, the story between the trios of friends: Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder), Pedro Sanchez (Efren Ramirez) & Deb Bradshaw (Tina Majorino) and their attempts to overcome their status as social outcasts in High School was somewhat engaging. All of them, played their characters, very well. You really do believe, that all of them, are dweebs. Even the supporting characters like Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) and Kip Dynamite (Aaron Ruell) are somewhat memorable with their characteristic. It's still cracks me up, watching Uncle Rico throw a football, around. Another fault of the writing is how slow the pace is. Seeing how there is no main plot. It's feels like a film full of bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense. After all, what does any of the scenes with the town's martial arts instructor, Rex (Diedrich Bader) have to do with anything with the main plot? Barely anything. Another thing to note is, how similar, the visuals in this film are to Wes Anderson. Anderson has been noted for his extensive use of flat space camera moves, obsessively symmetrical compositions, snap-zooms, slow-motion walking shots, a deliberately limited color palette, and hand-made art direction often utilizing miniatures. There are plenty of examples of that. A good example is the opening titles. The sequence shows a pair of hands placing and removing several objects on a table. Objects like plates of food had the credits written in condiments, while other objects like a Lemonheads box or a tube of ChapStick had the credits printed on them. None of the items, really has anything to do with the main plot. It really confused people. Another thing that got people weirded out, was the settling. The film is supposedly set during the 2004-2005 school year, as shown on Napoleon's student ID card in the title sequence, but the film contains a number of anachronisms indicating that it would be more appropriately set in the 1980s or 1990s. It doesn't make sense for people to still be using outdated electric equipment like VHS and Cassette Players. I get that the Mormon town they filmed in, called Preston, Idaho is very notorious for being 'behind the curve' in regards to popular culture of almost any sort, but come on! They can't be that behind the times. Anyways, I know that this independent movie isn't for everybody. After all, I have been told by others, how unfunny, they felt watching it, but for me, I found the film to be very fun to watch, even with the deadpan comedy. It was the breakout role of Jon Heder, who also started in the original 2002 short, 'Peluca'. It's really surprising, how much the Seth character in 'Peluca' was later adapted into the titular character, Napoleon. A lot of his famous catchphrases were original ripped from 'Peluca'. Anyways, since the success of the film, many TV Shows and movies tried to emulate the film's style by featuring absurd, deadpan humor and realistic-looking kids in late '70s - early '80s clothes. The movie even influence a fountain full of internet memes, merchandise and random everyday sayings. While, there has been some backlash, for the most part. People still love to quote this film. It hasn't gotta that dated, yet. After all, it was announced in 2010 that an Animated Adaptation was in production for Fox, with the original cast returning to voice the characters. The show premiered on January 15, 2012 with lukewarm reception. Despite being canceled after 6 episodes, I kinda like that cartoon series. Overall: I have to say, Napoleon Dynamite will always be, a favorite of mine. So check it out, if you like to. Gosh!