Napoleon Dynamite

Year: 2004

Grade: C+

Country: USA

Director: Hess

Review

seemed like an snl sketch turned into a film. the reason i say this is because there was very little that held the film together from scene to scene. the election was just about the only plot line that ran through a good portion of the film. this point would be okay if the characters were of the same caliber as those in a wes anderson picture, but they just weren’t. napoleon dynamite was a funny, offbeat character, but he wasn’t funny enough and i really didn’t get to know him all that well. within the first 3.5 minutes of rushmore you know exactly who max fischer is and you’re pretty much instantly in love with him, the same can’t really be said of napoleon. there was certainly some good material in the film, it’s just that the picture wasn’t written in a way that allowed us to get to know the character while keeping us interested in the story.  costume and set design were highlights of the picture – both accented the characters’ personalities well. the best thing about this film is that it’s doing well which bodes well for the future of independent features of this kind.

Watched in theater