Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

How can one review Napoleon Dynamite? It is a much harder task then expected and maybe that’s a good thing. All I know for sure is that I loved it, I absolutely loved it. But I have no clue as to why. Maybe it was its deadpan hilarity, its blazing originality, or the brilliant lead performance by Jon Heder. I really don’t know.
The movie’s simple enough an antisocial loner in a small Idaho town helps his friend to be their high school’s new president. He lives with his pathetic brother and grandmother--who takes a spill on her dune buggy causing Napoleon’s uncle to take care of them. He meets a girl named Deb and they become friends. That’s about it. But there’s something brimming below the surface—or maybe not.
I say this because the film has no sentimentality to speak; in fact it tries to avoid it at all costs. First Napoleon is not a likely hero or even a likable protagonist, but he does grow on you (you can’t help but laugh at the way he expresses “Sweet” and “Yes”). And the characters are so eccentric they put any Wes Anderson character to shame. And the film’s script written by the married couple Jared and Jerusha Hess is like nothing before it. This is a one-of-a-kind film that really shouldn’t be defined as a cliché because it cramps its style.
The film was warmly received at The Sundance Film Festival and took home the best picture award from The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and has already developed a cult following. And it’s easy to see why. What’s hard to understand is the feeling I have about the movie.
Its mix of cynicism, parody, and farce absurdly touched me and I firmly believe the film had no intention of doing this. And therein lies, I guess, the reason for my love of Napoleon Dynamite. It strives for nothing and that’s unheard of in American art pictures these days. As the tagline proclaims: “He’s going to prove he’s got nothing to prove.” He accomplished his goal. Sweet.


Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8