Napoleon Dynamite
 

Has anyone else seen Napoleon Dynamite yet? My wife and I caught it at our local indy/art house over the weekend, and we both loved it.

The movie, which screened at Sundance, is the story of Napoleon Dynamite, who goes to high school in the small town of Preston, Idaho. Napoleon is social outcast, and gets picked on and beat up for his nerdy tendencies. He spends most of his time in class drawing mythical creatures (such as the liger - a half tiger, half lion, that is bred for it's skills in magic), and for a current events report he recounts a story about Japanese scientists who attempt to blow the Lochness Monster out of the lake.

Napoleon lives with his grandmother and his 31-year old brother Kip. When Napoleon's grandma gets injured in a quadcycling accident his Uncle Rico comes to stay with them. Uncle Rico is stuck in his glory days of high school football, and Kip spends his entire days chatting to hot chicks on the Internet.

The story mostly centers around Napoleon's interactions with Deb and Pedro. Deb is a girl who shows up on Napoleon's doorstep trying to sell boondongle keychains and glamor shots to raise money for college. It's almost immediately apparent that Napoleon has a crush on Deb, but he's too awkward to do anything about it. Pedro is a recent Mexican immigrant who comes to town and becomes friends with Napoleon. With Napoleon's help Pedro runs for class president against Summer, the most popular girl in the school.

I found the high school scenes to be best parts because they were so much like my own high school experiences. The dance scenes were particularly spot-on - even down to playing Alphaville for the slow dance.

The movie is full of great quotes, with a definite Mormon slant on the language. (Lots of use of the words "heck" and "gosh"). And the characters are all hilarious in their own ways.

There are some problems with the movie: the pacing is a little slow, and lot of the scenes feel like independent sketches thrown in for comedies sake. But, the biggest criticism I've read is that it's difficult to pinpoint when the movie takes place. Many of the fasions seems like they'r straight out of the 80s, but some of the music choices and the presence of the online chatrooms seem to contradict that.

This movie is defintely not going to be a blockbuster (as evidenced by the fact my wife and I saw it in a nearly empty theater), but it's sure to be a cult classic. Go check it out if you're looking for a break from summer action films, or if you just want to see something completely goofy.

I've been seeing commercials for this recently, and I've heard chatter about it. It sounds pretty damn good for sure.

Thanks for the write-up. I've been seeing random previews for it and don't hear anyone talking about it. I think I'll check it out.
-T

thank you for a run down on the movie.. I wasnt prepared quite yet to go into the movie blindly ;)

I saw Napolean Dynamite and found it to be very entertaining. It's rare that you find a comedy rated PG, much less a GOOD comedy that is rated PG. I definately recommend this movie.

You're just jealous because I've been talking to hot chicks online...

All day.

Yeah, I saw this movie advertised at a couple of theatres, but I didn't want to see it not knowing anything about it. I may have to see it now.

Thanks for the synopses.

"The defect in this one is bleach."
"Correct!"
"Yesssssssssssssssss"

"Tina, come eat some ham! TINA! EAT SOME HAM!"


Man, this movie is classic, I saw it like 3 weeks ago when I was up in NY. Definitely go check this movie out.

Sweet! I just read that the movie is going to be re-released in major theaters, along with additional footage on Friday.

You can check out the extremely small trailer for the additional footage on the Official Website (Warning: links directly to movie).

this was a great movie, I really enjoyed it. I like your sleeves they're real big. hahahah

Maybe someone can answer this for me.
Spoiler: Why does Napoleon always have his eyes closed?

The world may never know.

I saw this tonight.. Oh man, I want my 8.50 back.

There were some entertaining parts, but as a whole, I was unimpressed.. Unimpressed because I had so much good talk about it, and there really was nothing.
Maybe I just went into it with the wrong mindset, but hey.. it really was not that funny, in my opinion.

I saw it the other day and I'll say this:
It's Stupid, but in a charming sort of way.
Some scenes are very funny in a painful sort of way, kind of like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You don't want to watch, you know whats going to happen, but you can't help but watch and laugh anyway. There were several good lines, but no real catchphrases.

"Hey Napoleon, give me some of your tots."

Unfortunately, there isn't much on plot, and the movie seems awkwardly peiced together. It could have been better written and edited, to make it more of an underdog triumphs over adversity story, but as it is it captures the essence of being a social outcast, essentially what it's like to be a dork, in the formitive high school years.

Like I said, it's dumb fun, but a pretty good alternative to the typical summer crap.

Wait for the extra scene at the end of the credits.

I thought the movie was flipping good. It had a dry sense of humor, that isnt for everyone, but I thought was refreshing considering all the other trash comedies that are out right now.

Spoiler: I thought it was funny when the farmer shot the cow in the face right as the schoolbus went by

Napoleon, you know we can't afford the fun pack. What, do you think money grows on trees in this family? Take it back! And get some pampers for you and your brother while you're at it

Spoiler: I thought it was funny when the farmer shot the cow in the face right as the schoolbus went by

Napoleon, you know we can't afford the fun pack. What, do you think money grows on trees in this family? Take it back! And get some pampers for you and your brother while you're at it

*bump
I just saw the first half of this movie, and I'm already in love... Napoleon is like, that kid, you know, THAT KID. WHO ROCKS, because he doesn't.

the most quotable movie of all time? YESSSSSS.

If you think he rocks from just watching the first half, wait till the end!

Totally loved this movie...LAFAWNDUH!!

Deb : What are you drawing?
Napoleon : A liger.
Deb : What's a liger?
Napoleon : It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.

So funny...

I saw this Vote for Pedro sign in downtown San Jose a few weekends ago. I'm thinking about making up a Vote for Pedro t-shirt to wear on election day.

> Hey, Napoleon. What did you do last summer again?
> I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!
> Did you shoot any?
> Yes, like 50 of 'em! They kept trying to attack my cousins, what the
heck would you do in a situation like that?
> What kind of gun did you use?
> A freakin' 12-gauge, what do you think?

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I have my laoptop here at work today, just so I can watch Napoleon Dynamite. YESSSSS!

This movie was pretty damned good. Well worth the download.


Best. Dance Scene. Ever.

Yea this is one of the best films to come out this year. They played a lot of commercials for it on MTV and a lot of people I knew really wanted to see it but didn't really know where. I found that it was playing at a local independant film theater and went to see it. It's unfortunate because the movie could have done much better sales wise if people could find theatres hosting it.

Oh man... that dance scene was total gold

I'm going to try to convince one of my friends to make me a "vote for pedro" shirt

so far no luck... she's greedy with them

my "vote for pedro" shirt is supposed to be in the mail today

Yeah! I just ordered my Vote for Pedro shirt, too. I wonder if it would be considered too political to wear when I'm a poll worker on election day.

I saw it but left before the bonus scene came on(didn't know about it) What happened?

I was pretty dissapointed. I thought it was ok, but there wasn't really a plot. However, the dance scene at the end made it worth the matinee price. Holy crapballs that was great.

I finally saw this move and I laughed until I cried. It's not obvious humor, like Dumb and Dumber, but it is hysterical.

"You know I'm training to be a cage fighter."

"This is like the worst video ever."
"You have no way of quantifying that."

"I made like infinity of these at scout camp."

Here's a video one of my friends made. He's my hero, lol.

PLEASE RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE AS TO SAVE BANDWIDTH. Thanks
http://www.electrocity.ca/-%20Users/...s/napolean.wmv

I had such high hopes for this movie as I heard it was a sleeper hit. I never knew how much of a "sleeper" it was. It was trying to be funny and it just wasn't. I admit there were some parts that were pretty funny but none that were LMAO moments. It's pacing is so slow after the first 50 minutes I wish it would just end.

I finally watched this the other day and I thought it was very funny.
By the way, I don't know about its reputed skills in magic, but a liger is a real animal, not a mythical creature. It is the result of breeding a male lion with a female tiger.
http://www.sierrasafarizoo.com/animals/liger.htm
The offspring of a male tiger and female lion is called a tigon.

My wife and I both loved this movie, but we took some friends to see it and they were split about it. You will love it if you like the painful humor and if you are into that then you should all see The Office Series from the bbc. Now that is super painful but glorious at the same time.

I saw this movie a couple of days ago. Its really really funny, i like it alot. The best part was definately the dance scene after pedro's speech, mainly because he stays in character so well during the dance.

Finally saw this tonight. I loved it! Yeah, I can't tell the era either; they play 80's music at the school dance, and many of the girls have 80's-style haircuts, but then Napolean dances to N'Sync and they have internet chatrooms.

"You're just jealous that I've been chatting with a ton of babes on the internet!"
"We're getting kinda serious, but I'm getting kinda P.O.'d, 'cause she still hasn't sent me a full body shot yet."

GREAT movie overall. Funny as hell.

Napolean dances to Jamiroqui in the version I saw and the girls dance to the Backstreet boys. I thought it was really funny. Pedro's facial expressions alone make me crack up.

Asta!!

Saw this in the theatre a while back and have been quoting it ever since. My wife got me the dvd for xmas, which is great because when we saw it in the theatre we didn't know that there was a bonus scene at the end, so we missed it.

That's pretty much how I felt about it, except I didn't have very high expectations ahead of time because I'd read a couple of critics' reviews that didn't seem to indicate it'd be very good. I figured that the movie was probably going to be something that I'd consider to be overrated (since many people are praising the film), but I figured I'd at least enjoy some of the movie, but I didn't think there was really a truly funny moment to be had anywhere in the movie. I just kept waiting for it to be over. It wasn't a painful film to watch, just not good or entertaining, in my opinion. It just seemed to try hard to be quirky as much as humanly possible throughout the movie and pass it off as humor.

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.

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.

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

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.

I graduated HS in 1987...

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.

That explains it :lol:

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.

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...

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.

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.

"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...

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.

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

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."

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...

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

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.

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?

I saw this last night and loved it.

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

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.

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.

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.

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! ;)

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

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. :lol:

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.

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

Crazy man and his weird views.

[/sarcasm]

that was fun :)

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...;)

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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

On a side note, Ligers are bad ass!

http://www.shambala.org/images/02_An...ll_patrick.jpg

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.

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

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.

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

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.

i just saw this for the first time yesterday and i enjoyed it, but then im the kind that like the rediculously stupid comedies.
I did like it much better than meet the fockers, but then i hate ben stiller and the focker joke was old after watching the commercial for the first movie

I don't like this movie for any of the superficial reasons that have been stated so far. I disliked this movie until I started this reply. In writing my original reply, I went back to my critical analyzation skills that were honed and sharpened like crazy by my English professor last semester. In so doing, I came to realize that my first impression after having seen this movie was quite wrong. Suffice it to say that the central message of this movie is that of "loser-cum-hero", Napoleon, Pedro and Kip being the losers-cum-heroes. I thought initally that the way in which they achieved their heroic was self-defeating, but it isn't. Not a good movie, not a bad movie, just watchable.

My review:

Waste of money.

This movie was really bad. It's not that I didn't get it or don't like weird movies, there just wasn't any real dialogue and the single lines were all old cliched type lines that I've heard before in other places. I was really looking forward to this film because I heard so much good about it but it ended up being pretty boring.

Finnaly more people agree, this was the most overhyped movie of 2004.

Funniest PG movie ever

ditto....i can't think of another one that was even close off the top of my head.

exactly

hmmmm...let's see....

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Annie Hall
The Princess Bride
A Christmas Story
Groundhog Day
Tootsie
Airplane
The Producers
The Odd Couple
Being There
Arthur
Big
Ghostbusters
Harold & Maude
......

Just watching the commercials, the movie looks good in a stupid childish way. Once you see the movie, it's even dumber than the commercials look, but it's so stupid and filled with stuff you used to say in 4th grade that its hilarious. I love the part with the bike and the ramp, but I won't go into detail for those of you who haven't seen it yet.

I rented this movie because of two commercials-one about the tater tots and one about Pedro's bike. Having seen the movie, I know now that those were the only two vaguely comical moments in the entire movie. All my "emo" friends loved it because, omg, it was so random and quirky. It, like Garden State (a far superior movie), was made specifically to be enjoyed by the intellectual punk-flavored college student, and it just sort of blew. There was nothing original in it and it was terribly forced. Don't ever spend money to see it.

the bike jump ha ha that was about the only time i laughed out loud. I only watched the movie once just a few days ago and it was ok. I have to watch a movie a few times before i can really form a strong opinion of it...i would watch it again.

I haven't seen the movie, but apparently I remind people of Napoleon. >_<

I hated the movie.They was trying to hard to make it funny,but in the end just blew.

Finally got around to renting he DVD. I thought it was a freakin' hoot. Gosh.

A movie with no sex, no violence, no cursing.
how refreshing.
It may be a shock to some people's system.

I graduated from HS in 1984 and this movie struck my funny bone.
I laughed. I howled. and I gaffawed.

It's definately a movie you either "get" or you "don't get."
My girlfriend didn't "get" it. But then she's almost 10 years younger then me.

I must say that it helps if you have a few drops of geek blood in ya.

Yes, be careful, if you have any friends who tend to like things because it's cool to like it, don't see this movie with them. It will only frustrate you. "Are you seriously laughing because a dorky white guy is dressing in hip-hop attire? You haven't seen that a couple hundred times before, done better?"

Heck yes this movie is good.