Tuesday 13 September 2016

Review: Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Did you ever have a favourite movie during your teens, that was downright stupid but you watched it nearly every weekend with your friends or family, and quoted it constantly? For me, it was Dude, Where’s My Car, which I still love to this day. I’ve always been aware of a movie called Napoleon Dynamite and knew my husband loved it, I knew his siblings tease him and call him Napoleon, but it wasn’t until our wedding night when him and his Sister stormed the dance floor to do ‘the Napoleon Dynamite dance’ that my curiosity got the better of me.

napoleon-dynamite-movie-review-2004

If you’ve never heard of it, Napoleon Dynamite is a super low-budget comedy about a guy called, well, Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder). He’s a big of an odd-ball at school, doesn’t have many friends, and lives with his 32-year old brother and grandma, who goes missing for a while, leaving steak-loving Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to look after the pair.

There’s literally no plot to this movie whatsoever, and that’s just all part of the charm. Napoleon eventually makes friends with Pedro (Efren Ramirez), the new kid who Napoleon eventually helps to run for school president (that explains all the ‘Vote for Pedro’ t-shirts I’ve seen everywhere). The two of them work together to ask out a girl to the prom, with varying levels of success. Along the way, they become close with Deb (Tina Majorino), who runs her own glamour photoshoot business at home.

napoleon-dynamite-aaron-ruell-jon-heder

Literally every scene in this movie has something stupid about it, and I mean that in the most positive way. It’s that kind of humour that you either love or hate, and it tickled me endlessly. Sometimes it’s not even the lines that are funny, it’s the way they’re delivered. I think my favourite line is when Deb first knocks on the door of the house and tries to sell Napoleon some of her crafts. She explains that she’s trying to earn some money for college, and Napoleon’s brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) shouts from inside ‘Your mom goes to college’. I guarantee it’s not funny now you’re reading this, but I had to pause the movie because I was laughing too hard!

Let’s not forget the most romantic line in movie history, “I see you’re drinking 1% milk. Is that cause you think you’re fat? Cause you’re not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to.”

Not every joke lands of course, I’m still not sure what the scene with Napoleon and Pedro appraising cows and tasting milk was all about, but there’s enough here to keep you laughing from start to finish. It’s one of those movies that deserves a re-watch every couple of years for sure.

napoleon-dynamite-prom-dance-jon-heder

Of course, now I’m clued in, I can’t help but agree with my siblings-in-laws when they say how much my husband reminds them of Napoleon. I mean, in college his hair was exactly the same of course, and he was a skinny little thing who loved to dance! (He still loves to dance now, but I’ve fattened him up a bit with my home cooking). In fact, now that I think about it, before we started dating he drew a picture of me and gave it to me as a gift...I need to ask him about that one!





Follow my blog with Bloglovin

8 comments:

  1. I'm glad you love this film, I hated it. I felt like it was EVERYWHERE when this film finally got moved to a wide release/then got a DVD release. So many people quoted it, sold merchandise for it, I just found it overwhelming. But I know so many that love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally get it! It wasn't so well known in the UK but it's such a quirky movie, it's certainly not for everyone. It didn't help that my husband was giggling like a girl next to me, and he's got a contagious laugh!
      - Allie

      Delete
  2. This movie actually surprised me (in a good way). I didn't think I'd enjoy it but I had fun w/ it and it's such a quotable movie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's one of those, isn't it? My husband said to me before we pressed play that if I hated it, that was okay, because it's such an odd movie. It just really tickled me!
      - Allie

      Delete
  3. Oh man I totally remember seeing this in theaters in high school AND getting to see it with Napoleon Dynamite himself. One of my friends won some random contest. Quite a spontaneous adventure :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NO WAY. That there is the coolest thing I've ever heard! I'm kicking myself now because Jon Heder was at London Comic Con in July when I was there, but I didn't know who he was at the time :(
      - Allie

      Delete
  4. They did the dance at your wedding!!!! Thats amazaing!!

    I laughed out loud when I read ‘Your mom goes to college’. Kip's face when he says it too is hilarious. My friends and I were obsessed with the film, quoting at each other even when it didn't make sense. Such a great film and can you believe its 12 years old!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone somewhere has it all on video, I need to find it!
      I'm so glad someone else finds that 'Your mom goes to college' line so funny, because it's so hard to explain it to anyone else and I end up looking like a loonatic!
      - Allie

      Delete