Napoleon Dynamite

Starring: Jon Gries, Jon Heder Original UK Premiere: 2004 Dvd Release: 25th April, 2005 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish Dubbed In: German, Spanish

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Napoleon Dynamite is an American independent film written & directed by Jared Hess. The movie is based on the short film he directed at BYU with Jon Heder, Peluca. It debuted in 2004, earning $ 116,666 in its opening weekend & over $44 million as of December 20, 2004. The DVD was released on December 21, 2004. The film follows the protagonist Napoleon Dynamite, a dorky high school student with a penchant for funk music, milk tasting, drawing & telling implausible stories. The film showcases Napoleons personality & circle of friends, family & associates. There is no strongly focused plot, but the movie follows the growth of the friendship between Napoleon & Pedro, Pedros venture to become school president & their relationship with Deb. Napoleon Dynamite, a nerd who loves to draw fantasy creatures & the films protagonist. Pedro Sanchez, a new student from Mexico who speaks limited English. He runs for class president. Deb, a shy & awkward schoolmate who is trying to earn money for college. She often wears her hair with a single ponytail off to one side. Posters Of Napoleon Dynamite

...but this film is worse than Garden State- an MTV-produced work that uses the over-familiar American nerd & attempts to mimic the style of Alexander Payne - check out Paynes 1999 MTV-produced feature Election to see a much sharper vehicile in similar climes to this...

I dont know about you, but Im slightly sick of the American nerd - after Thumbsucker, Donnie Darko, Tadpole, Rushmore & a mass of predecessors - Harold & Maude, Devo, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Jonathan Richman, the early funny works of Woody Allen, Crispin Glover, Gummo, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?, Lawn Dogs, Ghost World, My So-Called Life etc...the nerd-outsider has been overdone. What does Napoleon Dynamite add to the sub-genre?

The usual kooky types are here with a slow plotless feel, the lead character as irritating as the script - what does this film really say about anything? God knows how a book of quotes emanated from this thin work - I like good lines & all - but really I just dont get this. I missed the Napoleon Dynamite-boat bound for cultdom & do we need a movie that features horrific songs by Jamiroquai , Alphaville, Cyndi Lauper & When in Rome - I was half expecting Oingo Boingo or Wang Chung. This kind of thing makes me want to hate the 1980s...As a great nerd once crooned, "...it says nothing to me about my life."

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