:: 1.30.2005 ::

Napoleon Dynamite
As genuine cinephiles who are stuffed with the stuff that is coarse and stuffed with the stuff that is fine, we here at Sunset Blvd are committed to giving you insightful commentary on all movies, not just the classics.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I give a glowing endorsement to the low-budget, lowbrow, high-comedy indie flick Napoleon Dynamite.



The film's biggest joys are to be found in simply observing the characters of Napoleon and his brother, who are at once both unbelievably bizarre and instantly recognizable. Napoleon is an atypical teenager with a blank, squinty face and clownish orange afro, a cranky but guileless demeanor, and the social skills of a Chia Pet. He lives at home with his brother, Kip, a 32-year-old nerd with a lisp who thinks Napoleon is "jealous" because he spends all day chatting with "babes" on the Internet.

Like the much-beloved late '90s TV show Beavis and Butthead, the film's dialogue is completely inane on paper, but it is delivered with such pitch-perfect comic timing by Jon Heder and Aaron Ruell that almost every line becomes uncannily funny. One of my favorite lines is from a deleted scene:

Don: (Threateningly) Do you wanna die, Napoleon?
Napoleon: Yeah right! Who's the only one here who knows the illegal ninja moves from the government!?

The plot is conventional, essentially the story of how Napoleon finds an outlet for his unique abilities (or, as he would say his "skills") and makes friends that more or less understand him, but it is masterfully understated until the surprisingly uplifting climax brings all the story elements together.

The thing that raises Napoleon Dynamite from a charming indie comedy to a significant cinematic achievement is the director's unique visual style which subtly underscores Napoleon's alienation and achieves a mood of day-glo naïveté that never fades into pastel sentimentality.

Because of its originality and its seamless comic blending of the commonplace and the absurd, I predict this film will be a pop culture fixture for decades to come.

:: Posted by Grant "C.K." Dexter Haven @ 1:15 PM [+] ::
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