Movie Reviews
When I review comedies, it’s usually a matter of originality that I base my final decision of rating it. It seems that writers can’t think up anything we haven’t already seen and laughed at. “Napoleon Dynamite” is about an overly dorky high school-er named – that’s right, you guessed it - Napoleon Dynamite. While we sometimes feel sorry for him, he never becomes a character that we like because he seems to be fine with his nerdy persona. In fact, his dork-like outlook on life is almost aggressive – or at least it tries to be. This is a movie that is depressingly original; a work of pure passion toward one of two things. Either the makers of this film were dorks themselves and are simply making fun of their own experiences, or they were the people who made fun of others and this is their ode to their work.
Whatever the reasons were for its creation, “Napoleon Dynamite” is a uniquely hilarious piece sarcastic melodrama and exaggerated dialogue...all of which works splendidly. It’s not boring, however, which is one of the most remarkable things about the entire film itself. We come close to slugging our way from scene to scene, but are awakened by preposterous, yet side-splitting, characters that are as original as the movie.
Jon Heder is also making his debut as the lead, Napoleon, but his incredibly affective. His dialogue was always right on the money, but he says it so perfectly that there is no room for error. This is one of the most striking performances of the year. It seems that his character and his friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) show absolutely no sign of expression throughout all of the film – except for Pedro in his last ounce of frame time.
While this film was depressing in its portrayal of Napoleon and his friends, it is never missing a scene which produces at least one laugh. But there are five or six moments that are explosively funny: all of which are admirably original in a film that is busting at the seams with creativity and effectiveness. And I, personally, like that in a movie. ***