Napoleon Dynamite

Jared Hess, USA, 2004, 82 minutes

"Gosh!"

Napoleon Dynamite is a geek; from his ginger afro down to his brown polyester suit, from his ability to identify dairy contaminants from a single taste to his fine fantasy art skills. Life really sucks. In order to raise his sex appeal Napoleon decides to help his new friend Pedro to win the class presidency; after all, he's the got a sweet bike. And is really good at hooking up with chicks. Plus he's, like, the only guy at school who has a moustache.

This is a portrait of modern disillusioned youth in rural America; life sucks. There's the continuous aggravation of family members like his Uncle Rico - still chasing his teenage football dreams - and his uber-nerd brother Kip - cage-fighter in training and online lothario - to the general hell of high school jocks, preppies and mean girls; Pedro, his only friend, feels the same and - with the promise that a vote for Pedro will make their wildest dreams will come true - Napoleon decides to help him win the class presidency and raise their standards of living.

Napoleon Dynamite isn't a Hollywood comedy; there are no jokes, witty references or obvious punchlines - instead the entire movie, from its start to finish is a work of comic genius, a continual source of merriment. The characters and direction capture the mind numbing boredom of small town America - Jon Heder's performance perfectly expresses every detail of the listless and ambivalent Napoleon and the horrors of his tedious everyday life and Efren Ramirez's turn as Pedro, Napoleon's electorial champion, is brilliantly bizarre. However it's a friendly portrait of the underclass of the educational system; this isn't poking fun at Pedro and Napoleon, they are very much the heroes of the piece - Jared and Jerush Hess (the joint writers) are clearly speaking from the heart for their people.

It's very much a love it or hate it film; the comedy is off kilter and if you're not one of those who's laughing you'll be perplexed by the weirdness of the characters and their almost depressing existance. But if you get it, you'll be rolling in the aisle and swearing that Jon Heder is God for every one of these 83 minutes.

Review by George Williamson
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2006