After all the hype I'd heard about this movie, I just had to see it. Some I talked to said it was amazing, some said it sucked... The key feature of of every opinion I heard on this movie before viewing it seemed to be the intensity of the opinions... Either they thought it was the greatest movie ever or they thought it was a huge disappointment. After seeing it... I don't know exactly what I think. It was interesting, though, I'll give it that.

Setting the Scene...
Enter Napoleon: A skinny boy with a reddish afro, thick glasses, goofy t-shirts skinny jeans and moon boots. Yes, you heard right: Moon boots.

Deadpan oddball Napoleon (and his moon boots) reside in Preston, Idaho. The film is set in the present day or thereabouts, but other than the frequent references to the internet, this movie looks like it was filmed in about 1980 (the clothes, the hair... Did I mention all the terrible hair?!?)

A bit of plot After their somewhat butch grandmother (Sandy Martin) is injured in a freak dune-buggy accident, which should tell you something about this movie already, socially-challenged high schooler Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) and his even worse-off 30-year-old brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) are left to care for the family llama... again, this should tell you something... and go on with their day-to-day lives while being sort of baby-sat by their shady Uncle Rico (Jon Gries). Why a high schooler and a 30-year-old man need a babysitter is beyond me, but Uncle Rico does make an interesting addition to the cast.

Uncle Rico is a door-to-door salesman peddling Tupperware and herbal bust enhancers with ethically questionable tactics. Very used-carsalesman. During his stay with the Dynamites, he manages to make Napoleon's already socially decrepit life even worse.

Anyway, while wandering the school one day after trying to go home sick, Napoleon meets a new kid, Pedro (Efren Ramirez). Pedro is the only Mexican person at the school, so none of the popular kids want anything to do with him. He also has a very quiet and peculiar demeanor and a mustache. Napoleon latches onto him and the two of them end up friends. Add into the mix an equally nerdy amateur photographer and homemade keychain-peddler Deb (Tina Majorino), and you have quite an interesting bunch. They attend a school dance and have a series of somewhat disjointed cringe-worthy experiences while you look on with your head cocked to the side trying to figure out exactly what this movie is about.

By the end of the movie Deb manages to look almost cute and Pedro, complete with mustache and a wig (don't ask) ends up running for school president. In perhaps the most captivating scene in the entire film, Napoleon entertains the audience with a strange dance interlude that serves as the only thing close to a climax in this movie.

General Impressions
I watched it twice, and I still can't figure out exactly where 24-year-old first-time director Jerod Hess (who co-wrote the movie with his wife Jerusha) was going with this one. There isn't much in the way of what you would typically consider to be a plot, but it is an interesting look at a bunch of poorly dressed misfits with terrible hair who take themselves (and Tetherball) a bit too seriously. As a character study, it is verging on being interesting, but it stops short of brilliant even there.

Why I like this movie...
Although I still don't feel like I completely "get" it, I have to say that I did enjoy this movie. The characters, most of whom take themselves so seriously that they rarely even crack a smile, are hilarious for this very reason. They don't know that they are funny, and somehow this makes them even more so.

The cinematography is excellent in my opinion. There aren't really any special effects, but I love the shots of the rolling Idaho terrain, and the angles they get really capture the effect I think they were going for.

Technically, this is a high school movie, but it is so far removed from any current ones out there that it almost creates its own classification. It is definitely not another teen movie. It is not dirty. There are not 10,000 sex jokes and fart jokes, there is no nudity whatsoever and there is almost no cursing. They just use "heck" and "gosh" and "freakin'" a lot. This is really a very good, clean movie. It's kind of a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of other stuff out there. It reminded me a little bit of Rushmore...

Where it falls short
I think the biggest weakness of this movie is that it seems constantly sidetracked. It has no real direction, and it just wanders about without anything really happening. It attempts to work in themes about nerds triumphing over the popular, high school life, life in a dysfunctional family, etc., but it never really goes anywhere with them either.

Overall...
If you're looking for a movie filled with action, effects, deep meaning or plot, this one's really not for you. The characters are colorful and funny in their own weird ways,it has some good quotes ("Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter."), and you will find yourself laughing hysterically at times, but mostly it just feels like you're watching a series of unrelated (if amusing) vignettes. It's like watching a high school version of very early Seinfeld.

I watched it once by myself. Then my husband and my dad got back from fishing, so I watched it again with them. They asked me what it was about, and I couldn't really tell them. I just turned my head to the side, kind of half-smiled, and said "Ummm... I'm not sure exactly. You just need to watch it and see." And I guess that's the best thing I could say to you. I may not "get" it, but I did enjoy it, although I am finding it difficult to articulate exactly why. It is funny and refreshing. You just need to watch it and see!


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8