Film Review of Napoleon Dynamite
Year: 2004 Reviewer: Chris Docker
Do you like quirky, zany, screwball comedies? If you enjoyed There's Something About Mary, or Clerks, or other movies that relied on whacky characters doing and saying unpredictable things, then this may be just worth your while.
Napoleon Dynamite, right from the opening credits, screams low budget originality and offbeat humour. The central character (after whom the film is named) is a high school geek who would be unmitigatedly stupid and hopeless were it not for the originality of his dumb ideas, bad chat up lines and ability for upsetting all the other geeks. Although the formula works very well for a while, the film falls down when we realize it is little more than a succession of sketches, mostly in reverse order of their ability to induce mirth. He teams up with a moronic Hispanic guy who says very little, gets a date under duress, and after what is less than an hour and a half but somehow seems much longer, saves the day. Napoleon Dynamite shows promise and a lot of talent, but it needs to be developed in more directions than this to make an entertaining movie that is truly satisfying.
Rating: 6/10
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