Movie Review: Napoleon Dynamite

The day finally came when I watched the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Then many days passed. And then I decided to review it (which brings us to the present).

Ah... Napoleon. I must say, Napoleon Dynamite was the quirkiest movie I've seen in a long time. It seemed to have almost zero as far as a plot goes... and yet, it was definitely worth seeing. Since there's not much plot to review (the movie was more of a character study), I'll try to focus on the characters.

The movie follows a high-school zombie (Napoleon Dynamite by name) through, essentially, a few days of his existence in high school. He's not stupid. He's not brilliant. He's just Napoleon (and he's a bit socially awkward). He's the lonely guy who plays himself at tetherball every day. The guy who, though he's not in any way a bad person, just doesn't seem to fit in.

Napoleon lives with his brother and grandmother. His brother Kip is a thirty-something, pale chat-room-a-holic. He spends his days going to chat room "meetings, " speaking to his beloved internet-girlfriend, LaFawnduh. He's a piteous character, to say the least.

When the grandmother leaves the house for a few days, she asks Napoleon's uncle Rico to come and watch the boys. Uncle Rico lives out of a van, and exists for only two purposes: to hatch hair-brained get-rich-quick schemes, and to relive his highschool football "glory days." When he arrives, Uncle Rico and Kip hatch a scheme to make loads of cash... In between Kip's chat room meetings, of course. Just so you know, somewhere along the line, a time machine comes into play...

Other characters include Pedro, Napoleon's nearly unintelligible Hispanic friend (who, by the way, runs for class president)and Summer, the cheerleader type girl who is running against Pedro in the class elections. There are loads of other characters too, many of whom would be far too absurd to be credible if it weren't for the fact that we all know people just like them.

This movie shows the plight of the little guy. That weird kid with the weird family. That guy with different interests from everyone else. That dude with the glasses and funny hair.

There's something odd about Napoleon. Something that we all recognize. More importantly, though, it's something that's painfully familiar; something that we can all identify with.

The movie elicits a feeling that everyone feels at one time or another; that feeling that no matter what you do, it's going to be clumsy and it's going to look stupid. It reminds you of how you felt when you acquired that painful knowledge that no matter how hard or how little you try, you're not going to fit in, you're not going to be accepted, and whatever you do or say WILL be stupid.

In seeing Napoleon in these embarrassing and painful situations, we tend to feel what he's feeling. This is compounded, I think, by his utter lack of response to the situations he's in. The only time we can see his emotional reaction to a situation is when he'd occasionally snap at one of his oppressors (which, by the way, always comes out sounding stupid).

Napoleon Dynamite is a movie without a significant plot line. However, it proves that a movie does not need a significant plot line in order to be significant itself. It's not a movie that you'll remember for its moving love story, its suspense, or it's spectacular action and special effects. It's a movie that you'll remember because of how it made you feel, and what it made you think. It forces empathy upon you for the poor, numb Napoleon, making you see and feel what he is now accustomed to.

When you watch Napoleon, don't expect it to be laugh-out-loud funny. It has some funny parts to it, but often you'll feel ashamed to laugh because of the situation that Napoleon is in. Instead, expect to identify with something about Napoleon, and laugh out of recognition.

I feel that this movie deserves a 7.5 out of 10. I recommend that everyone see this movie once. If you don't like it, don't watch it again. I may not watch it again, but it's a worthy movie nonetheless, and it tells a story that needs to be told.