David O'ConnellThe Random Genius of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
July 4th 2008 04:07
How the hell will Jon Heder ever shake off his association with Napoleon Dynamite, this richly bizarre creation of director Jared Hess and his wife Jerusha with whom he co-wrote the random screenplay - a deadpan, off-kilter glimpse at some very unspectacular, but hilariously entertaining, weeks in the life of some very strange Idaho residents.
Napoleon lives with his nerdy older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell), who though in his 30’s has the body of a malnourished 15 year old, and has a devoted internet girlfriend in Detroit who he’s never seen but is sure is his soulmate. They both live with their Grandma (Sandy Martin) who goes off to ride a dune buggy and gets injured, leaving the boys’ Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to look after them.
Napoleon himself is nerdy, lanky and ungainly – he’s funny to just look at or watch walk – gets beaten at school on a regular basis, carries a photo of a model in his wallet and claims it’s his girlfriend, dangles action figures out the back window of the school bus, and with grandma gone now has the family’s pet llama to feed. He has a new friend, Pedro (Efran Ramirez), the only kid in school with a moustache and their mission becomes to get Pedro elected school president – for no particular reason, it just seems like something to do and they don’t really put much thought into it other than to oppose the school’s most popular girl Summer Wheatly (Haylie Duff).
His Uncle Rico is a sleazy would-be salesman who tries to sell Tupperware to the town’s single mothers, and lives in the past, longing for the supposed glory days of his high school football exploits. But as with the other characters he’s never less than likeable and works brilliantly because he never strays into caricature; he has other sides to him as well.
The true genius of this film, released in 2004, lies in how it randomly strings together scenes from these people’s lives without any real compelling narrative to push it along. It succeeds because of it’s perfectly pitched tone in that there’s no outrageous or self-conscious weirdness in the way Hess has written them – these people aren’t trying to make any mark on the world or reach any ultimate moral judgements about either it or one another. There’s no catharsis or sentimental climax. Hess just places these distinctly odd characters in a vacuum of their own and we get sucked in by their endearing idiosyncrasies, laughing like fools at their cringe-worthy, small-scale misadventures all the while.
There’s no need for fleshed out back stories here, the random peculiarities of everyday life are perfect storytelling devices for a film as modest as this, and if you find yourself on its wavelength from the start you are going to laugh your head off. If you have a good look around your own street or town you'll probably find a few people not all that far removed from these 'weirdos'!
A work of accidental genius or not, Napoleon Dynamite seems sure to become a cult classic in future years, if it hasn't reached that status already.
Napoleon lives with his nerdy older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell), who though in his 30’s has the body of a malnourished 15 year old, and has a devoted internet girlfriend in Detroit who he’s never seen but is sure is his soulmate. They both live with their Grandma (Sandy Martin) who goes off to ride a dune buggy and gets injured, leaving the boys’ Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to look after them.
Napoleon himself is nerdy, lanky and ungainly – he’s funny to just look at or watch walk – gets beaten at school on a regular basis, carries a photo of a model in his wallet and claims it’s his girlfriend, dangles action figures out the back window of the school bus, and with grandma gone now has the family’s pet llama to feed. He has a new friend, Pedro (Efran Ramirez), the only kid in school with a moustache and their mission becomes to get Pedro elected school president – for no particular reason, it just seems like something to do and they don’t really put much thought into it other than to oppose the school’s most popular girl Summer Wheatly (Haylie Duff).
His Uncle Rico is a sleazy would-be salesman who tries to sell Tupperware to the town’s single mothers, and lives in the past, longing for the supposed glory days of his high school football exploits. But as with the other characters he’s never less than likeable and works brilliantly because he never strays into caricature; he has other sides to him as well.
The boys watch home movies with their Uncle Rico
The true genius of this film, released in 2004, lies in how it randomly strings together scenes from these people’s lives without any real compelling narrative to push it along. It succeeds because of it’s perfectly pitched tone in that there’s no outrageous or self-conscious weirdness in the way Hess has written them – these people aren’t trying to make any mark on the world or reach any ultimate moral judgements about either it or one another. There’s no catharsis or sentimental climax. Hess just places these distinctly odd characters in a vacuum of their own and we get sucked in by their endearing idiosyncrasies, laughing like fools at their cringe-worthy, small-scale misadventures all the while.
There’s no need for fleshed out back stories here, the random peculiarities of everyday life are perfect storytelling devices for a film as modest as this, and if you find yourself on its wavelength from the start you are going to laugh your head off. If you have a good look around your own street or town you'll probably find a few people not all that far removed from these 'weirdos'!
A work of accidental genius or not, Napoleon Dynamite seems sure to become a cult classic in future years, if it hasn't reached that status already.
Napoleon in hot new threads!
Napoleon and Pedro on the campaign trail
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