[Movie 300 / Day 317]
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is an indie comedy centering on the trials and tribulations of the titular character, admirably played by John Heder in a role that carried a severe risk of being typecast for the rest of his career. Napoleon is a slack-jawed, curly-haired misfit. He is bullied at school and seems to inhabit his own little world, a world where he is freakin’ cool, hunting wolverines and learning to use nunchucks to increase his skill-set – because, as everyone knows, girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.
Bullied at school and with a disfunctional home life (he lives with his grandma and his brother, Kip – who is pale, wears glasses, has braces on his teeth, and spends all day “chatting online to babes” and “training to become a cage fighter”), Napoleon doesn’t really have any friends – until he is asked to help the new boy in school (Pablo) find his way around. Before long, the two have met and befriended Deb, another social outcast who wears her hair in a sideways pony tail and walks door-to-door selling home-made bracelets.
There really is nothing substantial to the plot. The real meat in the sandwich is Pablo running for the school elections, with Napoleon and Deb helping him to run his campaign; but along the way, we are treated to Kip and Uncle Rico selling Tupperware door-to-door, Kip and his internet girlfriend, Lafawnduh, meeting for the first time, Napoleon getting a job on a chicken farm and some sweet dance moves.
It’s not much more than a bunch of set-pieces, strung together as an oddball coming-of-age flick, with our protagonist seemingly doing his best to remain a misfit by alienating more or less everyone he comes into contact with. For the most part, however, it works. It’s painfully funny in places and Heder plays Napoleon perfectly with his eyes half closed, mouth half open and an oddly lumbering gait.
If you haven’t seen it, and you’re a fan of the type of comedy that usually has Wes Anderson’s name attached, give NAPOLEON DYNAMITE a go.
My Rating: 
[ IMDB rating: 6.9 / 10 | IMDB link | Running time: 82 mins ]
