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Napoleon Dynamite | ||||
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R E V I E W B Y R I C H C L I N E |
dir Jared Hess scr Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess with Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Haylie Duff, Diedrich Bader, Trevor Snarr, Shondrella Avery, Bracken Johnson, Emily Kennard release US 11.Jun.04, UK 3.Dec.04 MTV 04/US 1h26 ![]() He ain't heavy: Ruell and Heder | |||
Napoleon (Heder) is a dweeby freak in his Idaho high school, the butt of everyone's jokes, and for good reason. He lives with his 32-year-old nerd brother Kip (Ruell) and his grandma (Martin), who injures her back and sends greasy salesman Uncle Rico (Gries) to stay with them. Meanwhile, Napoleon befriends a new student from Mexico (Ramirez), and the two of them try to get cool girls (Duff and Kennard) to go to the school dance with them (fat chance), while another girl (Majorino) secretly pines for Napoleon. The film is essentially a series of silly, low-key scenes that ask us to laugh at the ludicrous behaviour of the characters. It's like American Pie on valium, slow and drained of almost all energy. There are some genuinely funny bits that lampoon small-town life (Rex Kwon Do!), but mostly it's just people doing everyday random things. It's not remotely clever, it doesn't say anything and all of the characters are deeply annoying. The closest comparisons, Beavis & Butt-head, seem like social-satire geniuses next to these dimwits. You get the feeling the husband-and-wife filmmakers think everything here is awash with warm whimsy and goofy good humour. But the movie actually bubbles with barely suppressed loathing for its characters and setting. It also ineptly calls upon tired movie cliches to drive the plot--a school election, the prom, a redemptive talent show, a nerd surprising everyone with hidden talents, a bombshell falling for a geek, and a cheap and totally unearned sentimental finale. In the end we just long for even a glimpse of youthful energy--the film is beyond lethargic. We also crave something that's actually funny, besides merely amusing or nostalgic. Only sniggering audiences who feel superior to the quirky people on screen will enjoy this film. And something tells me that's not what the filmmakers had in mind.
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Lori, Kansas: Jim, Idaho:
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