“Napoleon, what did you do all last summer again?” the antagonist, a classic jock archetype, asks Napoleon as they sit across from each other in the locker room.
“I told you,” the awkward Napoleon begins, already exasperated, eyes squinting behind his aviator eyeglasses. “I spent it with my uncle in Alaska, hunting wolverines!”
This summer will mark the 22 year anniversary of the release of Napoleon Dynamite, an indie comedy film named after its main protagonist, directed by Jared Hess. The film, taking place in rural Idaho, follows dorky high schooler Napoleon (Jon Heder), his older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell), his uncle Rico (Jon Gries), his best friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez), and his other friend Deb (Tina Majorino) as they navigate a slew of hilarious challenges and calamities. The characters go through a series of tricky events, such as asking their crushes to the dance, trying to earn money, trying to be “cool”, and discovering who they are as individuals. Peppered with both subtle and not-so-subtle jokes (“your mom goes to college!”), Napoleon Dynamite is an amazing light-hearted watch for anyone of any age, especially those who enjoy dorky high school storylines.
While the awkwardness of the plot can take some time to get acclimated to, the struggle of the characters in pursuit of success is relatable and real. Director Jared Hess wrote each character to be both likeable and unlikeable in their own way, and allowed the cast to incorporate themselves into their roles while filming. Jon Heder, who plays Napoleon Dynamite, does spectacularly well with making Napoleon’s off-beat personality come to life. For example, Napoleon is kind and welcoming to the new student from Mexico, Pedro, but sometimes lies to others about himself (see wolverine quote above) in a futile attempt to appear cooler, and can be incredibly gawky. This balance of qualities is replicated with every Napoleon Dynamite character, eliminating the idea of human perfection, and truly capturing the nature of everyday life within the movie’s 82 minutes of runtime.
Napoleon Dynamite had a low budget of around $400,000, which required the creators of the movie to think outside of the box when it came to visuals. The creative direction of Napoleon Dynamite is highly praised, with FilmObsessive critic Joyelle Ronan pointing out that “memorable one-liners and quirky characters could have been enough to make Napoleon Dynamite a good comedy, but its visual creativity and style make it a great film”.
For instance, the opening credits of the movie feature cast and crew member’s names written on classic American dishes (such as corndogs, deviled eggs, and burgers) with condiments. Most of the cast members wore their own clothes, or bought them from thrift stores, and all of the film’s extras were real high school students. The homemade, do-it-yourself aspects of the movie is what makes it authentic, especially compared to the high-budget, pristine movies in recent years.
Although the movie is set in the time of its release, 2004, the scenes feature an 80’s atmosphere, often placed against iconic tracks such as “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper, “Forever Young” by Alphaville, and “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai. Napoleon Dynamite stands as a nostalgic throwback to a time when landline phones and bulky television sets dominated American households.
The movie, at the time of its release, achieved meteoric success, and went on to gross $45 million at the domestic box office. Many references to the movie continue to be sold in major stores in forms of merchandise, such as “Vote For Pedro” t-shirts from Hot Topic, yet many of today’s teens have never heard of the movie. While Napoleon Dynamite came out a while ago, everyone should see it at least once, as it truly captures humanity in its purest form, and is an uplifting movie that anyone can relate to. It accurately portrays the trials and tribulations of adolescence, and retains its refreshing tone years after its release.
Napoleon Dynamite is currently available to watch on Hulu and Disney+, and to rent on Amazon Prime for $2.99.
Image Source: Dogo Movies