Nimbletoe

Haha, I walked out of the theatre with mixed feelings. The dance sequence was hilarious, but the rest of the movie was just meh. But after a few weeks, I randomly found myself quoting the movie all the time, and didn't realize it for a few days. I still feel the same way, but some of the humor in it took time for me to appreciate.

That said, I still wouldn't watch it again.

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neekap

Saw it on DVD over the weekend.

It was a strange move, I'll give you that, but I thought it was pretty good too. Napoleon reminds me of a few people I went to high school with. I would agree with previous posts, though, about not being able to pinpoint a time period. It almost seems like it's an early-to-mid 90's timeframe but in a town that's forgotten that's stuck a decade or two behind with its customs.

I enjoy movies like this where they aren't blatent comedies.. Movies that you need to take a bit of time to "digest" to really understand the true value in it.

monkeydriven

Thank you Booray....this is exactly what I would have written....

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you think i got my eyes closed but i've been lookin' at you the whole f&ckin' time...
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Posting from the home of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox

Jesus Pimp

I think the time period is late 80s, early 90s. I went to grade school during this time and I could totally relate to ND especially with the characters and weird clothing. I think people who didn't grow up in similar era would not get the humor of the film.

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Never date anyone who doesn't make your dick hard.

monkeydriven

I graduated HS in 1987...

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you think i got my eyes closed but i've been lookin' at you the whole f&ckin' time...
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Posting from the home of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox

holtmate

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I loved the absurd plot, and the dance scene was great!
I can understand people not liking it, though. It strikes me as a love it or hate it almost cult film.

Jesus Pimp

That explains it

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Never date anyone who doesn't make your dick hard.

Kostya

Dang! That was like, pretty much the best movie ever made.

Well not the best, but pretty funny all the same. Not for everyone, but still a cool film.

neekap

I didn't really remember the Internet and "chat rooms" really taking off that early on, though. I think there are a few inconsistencies with the time line. But hey, you'll have that with most fictitional movies.

Only being 23 years old, it feels weird to look back and say "Back in my day, we didn't even have the Internet! We had to use BBSes and when you wanted to e-mail someone on the other side of the country, we had to use FidoNET, and it took a few days!" Ahh, those were the days.. Anxiously awaiting those HUGE 500k downloads over 2400 baud for hours on end! Oh well, I'm getting off-topic now...

gonad

This was a fun flick. I didn't want to go see it but I got talked into it and I'm glad I saw it now. Definitely funny. The dance sequence sealed it for me.

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anleja

As far as the time the movie took place in, in the beginning credits you can see his school id reads "2004-2005."

I really like the part where the grandma says "go make yourself a dang case-a-dilla!"

That seems like the perfect thing for a grandma to say.

I also loved the way the uncle screamed when the fruit hit his windshield. I'll admit that it is not a movie for everyone, but I loved it.

chickentribs

"Hi Napolean, what are you going to do today?"
"Whatever I want, Geez!"

If you don't find this line in the first minute of the film funny, you probably won't like the rest. I gave this to three different friends for xmas...

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Oft expectation fails...
and most oft there Where most it promises
- Shakespeare, W.

Harry Cox

It wasn't originally there. It was added after the movie was in theaters for a while. By the way, make sure you check out the kickball deleted scene. It is one of the best from the whole movie. I can't figure out why it was cut.

jaypc2

I loved the movie instantly.... I went in not knowing what to expect and came out satisfied. But it did seem more like a film you'd see at a film festival instead of your local thearter and i think drove alot of people not to like it just because it wasn't the normal "standard" comedy most people were expecting it to be. considering how the moive industry has been lately i think it was an amazing film. one of the few recently that had virtually no sex, drugs, or violence

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Zero Cool
stay sexy

noodles

i liked it. it wasn't award winning, but it was very quotable.

for those who complained about the plot and humor and stuff, what do you expect? the whole thing was done by two mormon dudes. no cursing or violence and no teams of writers to help them out.


"Take a look at what I'm wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it."

turbofish

this is one of those movies that grows on you... It's painful to watch, but it just won't go away... Alot of nice quotes and acting in this movie imo...

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><((((°>
Jag bara gissar o spekulerar o det jag skriver behöver inte ha någon förankring med verkligheten alls.

turbofish

I guess this isn't entertainment as much as culture...

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><((((°>
Jag bara gissar o spekulerar o det jag skriver behöver inte ha någon förankring med verkligheten alls.

Grasshopper Green

As someone who grew up in a very Mormon area of Utah (Idaho has a lot of Mormons too) this movie was absolutely hilarious and also reminded me a lot of when I went to school. There is definitely humor in there that you might not get if you haven't lived in Utah or Idaho. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I went into the theater, but it was definitely well worth it, in my opinion.

Stompy

It couldn't have been early 90's because of the whole chatroom thing.

Unless, of course, they were using IRC, but it wasn't well known then and is highly unlikely. How many people had pics of themselves online at the time?

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I love lamp.

Jimellow

I saw this last night and loved it.

Hilarious movie, with tons of great quotes.. Some of which can be found HERE.

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Desperation is no excuse for lowering one's standards.

Bacchanal

A friend of mine talked about it all night New Years Eve. When he wasn't talking about it, he was quoting it. When he wasn't doing either of those 2, he was dancing. I HAD to buy it the next day. Wonderful movie! I found myself at work tonight saying "Maybe I will! GOSH!" alot.

I can see why alot of people wouldn't like it, as it isn't straight out comedy like so many other movies, but it's just so different and original and funny in completely other ways. There are parts that I cant imagine anyone not finding funny (the bike ramp, when he gets shoved into the locker), but the dialogue is what makes the movie for me.

Daoust

I also loved this film. It is very quotable. I can understand how someone might not like this movie because they've been trained to think that movies like "Meet The Fockers" is comedy. Here's a hint - it's not. It's actually garbage. Yes, it had a few funny moments. But it's never enough. All the jokes are in the commercials. All the jokes are rehash of other jokes.

ND is as original as comedy gets these days. Which, granted, isn't much, but it's still great by today's comedy standards.

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I have faith in a few things - divinity and grace
But even when I'm on my knees I know the devil preys

stevo

Plus the internet chat rooms, and if you notice they have a modern satallite dish on their roof. And uncle rico has some kind of cell or car phone in his van. I think the on-going joke is that this takes place during the 2004-2005 school year, but Idaho is about 15-20 years behind as far as fashion and cordless phones are concerned.

I thought this movie was brilliant. My little brother made me watch it over the holidays while I was visiting him. Since I've been back, I've borrowed it from a friend and seen it 2 more times. Its real dry though, but absurdly funny.

tellumFS

I think that to really get some of this movie, you have to know someone(s) with attiributes like Napoleon. For example, when I saw it, I thought to myself: Holy crap! He's like a mix of 5-10 kids I went to high school with!.

Another key to getting it is if you know that area of the country. Having known people from that area of Eastern Oregon/Washington and Idaho, I'd say it's a pretty good stereotype of that area (atleast from thats what I gather from the people I know, and the few visits I've made out there - maybe not what everyone is like, but there are people out there like that).

Or maybe the haters just don't have a sense of humor. GOSH!

Ace_O_Spades

I got a Vote for Pedro t-shirt for christmas... I wear it out to bars and it's always a big hit

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Feh.

sherpahigh

I thought it was hilarious. I have it on DVD and watched it again last night. I had to watch the scene where Napoleon throws an orange at Uncle Rico's van about 4 times. That scream is freakin funny. Sounds exactly like my old roomate who I always used to scare just to hear the girly man scream it always produced.

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Booray

I think it's funny how anytime I see people saying they didn't like Napoleon Dynamite on a board, it's assumed that they either have no sense of humor or else have a bad sense of humor, only liking mainstream comedies (for some weird reason, I've read many comments assuming that, if someone doesn't like Napoleon Dynamite, they must like Meet the Fockers).

As far as comedies go, I think Napoleon Dynamite belongs in the realm of movies like Dude, Where's My Car (except in Napoleon Dynamite, they also sprinkle in a liberal dose of quirkiness hoping to gain some cheap laughs). Anytime I read someone's comments about this movie and they recall their favorite scenes and lines, I just shake my head that people actually think this stuff was funny. Hell, the quotes that I see posted aren't even remotely funny.

For me, good comedy = Dr. Strangelove, MASH, Big Lebowski, The Office, Seinfeld....not a movie that gets cheap laughs out of a character that wears moonboots the whole time (wow! fuckin hysterical!!), talks in a funny way, and does a funny dance.

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Persuaded, paraded, inebriated, and down
Still aware of everything life carries on without

Ace_O_Spades

Come fellow Dymaniters... let's ignore this infidel for having different views than us!

Crazy man and his weird views.

[/sarcasm]

that was fun

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Feh.

tellumFS

I can see where you're coming from. But at the same time, I thought it was pretty damn funny that someone did a movie on that guy from high school. C'mon! EVERYONE knew that guy. Unless you were that guy...

frankx

Saw it on DVD last night after hearing more than one person say "what a cool movie". I've just got to learn to stop listening to people. Maybe I just didn't get it. Maybe I wasn't meant to.

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Ruse

I didnt really enjoy the movie at all.. infact, I hated it. Prior to having seen the movie I had been hearing how amazing it was and how funny and sarcastic it was. I didnt have time to see it in theaters, so after months of hearing random quotes and scenes re-enacted I rented it the first day it was released. 2 minutes into the movie I was asking myself "Where is the humor in watching unenthusiastic people doing and saying random things?" I didnt find the answer in the movie. It wasnt funny.

radioguy

just watched this flick and i'm ready to watch it again. i thought it was great because i could relate to this flick. everyone knew this guy in school. everyone has acted like this guy in some way. it was simple and clean, that's what made it great to me. there was no underlying meaning or earth shattering plotline. it was a movie about a dork and it was great!

djflish

I saw this with my girlfriend, I thought it was amazing!
She said it was the worst, most boring film she had ever seen!
It's definitely a love it/hate it movie

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Europes two great narcotics, Alcohol and Christianity.
I know which one I prefer.

Charlatan

The best thing about this film, for me, was the sweetness and honesty of some of the characters. That level of naiveté would just be crushed in the real world...

The humour was definately low key.

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Justsomeguy

This movie was very dull to me. It was not very entertaining at all

On a side note, Ligers are bad ass!

Suave

Please cease and desist with the cinematic elitism. People have different taste in what is humourous and what is not, and saying that someone is "wrong" for finding something humourous is humourous in itself. The best that can be done is to say that some things are humourous to a larger number of people than others, and therefore have more credibility as humour.

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"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

Chupes

I used to like the movie, but I hate it more and more each time I hear some kid quote the damned thing!

Kazic

this movie can't really be thought of as a movie. it plays out more like a bunch of random events that happen to that geeky guy we all went to high shool with. you know the one that lived for a girl he couldn't talk to. Got picked on all the time by the Jocks/tough guys/skaters/Heads/Girls. etc.
The part that made this movie funny for me was when he gets on the bus at the opening. like what the hell is wrong with him? or the tater tots? I mean nothing means anything in this movie. maybe thats the point. Just a bunch of random shit just like life is.

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"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man
affected us as kids,we'd all be running around in
darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening
to repetitive electronic music."
-Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989

he_haha

I think it's a great movie, until the 14th time

Val_1

I did find this movie to be funny. Very dry, but very funny. Although, I don't think I would really recomend it to anyone, since it is such a specific taste. I don't think most people would like it too much. BTW, do NOT listen to the director's commentary. Booooring! Plus it ruins alot of the movie. Pretty much everything in the movie is something that happened to him when he was a kid. Makes the movie seem not as creative.

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-Frank Sinatra