Napoleon Dynamite

2004's NAPOLEON DYNAMITE occupies not only a place among my all-time favorite comedies, but a place all its own.  I have seen many films that dispense quirk liberally, attempting to be singular and groundbreaking, but most resemble something earlier.  Co-writer/director Jared Hess truly has fashioned something unique, unlike anything else I've seen.  Some have likened his style to Wes Anderson, but to me only in the most oblique sorta way.  If Hess never makes another good film (and to date, that's exactly what's happened), he can safely rest on this laurel.

Napoleon (Jon Heder) appears to be a standard issue geek with bad hair with interests in nerdy things, and regularly plays the victim to taunts from the jocks and headlocks from a school bully.  But he has this indominatible spirit about him.  He doesn't cower, but rather sighs about it all.  There are indications that another side of Napoleon Dynamite exists - one locked in his bedroom or behind the gymnasium, weeping profusely.  Overwhelmed by the hell of high school.  Being different.

But that would not fit here, a riotous funny movie that gradually reveals its comic genius.  Moreso through multiple viewings.  The humor is mostly quiet, observational.  Many gags sneak up on you - the way "quesadilla" is pronounced, or how the screen freezes during a local TV commercial.  Some are far more obvious and broad, but never vulgar.  Either way, a better picture of rural Idaho I don't believe I've seen.  A place that seems to be fixed in an earlier time, its characters still obsessed with Internet chat rooms and using pay phones.  The movie itself has a yesteryear feel and pace; maybe that's why I dig it so much.  It's like some lost classic from my own teen years.  Check the soundtrack. 

Heder has created an iconic character, cemented by his slow motion stroll down the avenue in a thrift store suit.  He's a rare teen character that embodies snark and heart in equal measure.  He really cares about his friends Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and Deb (Tina Majorino).  Possibly even his man/boy older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) and the dreaded Uncle Rico (Jon Gries), who's stuck in his own time warp - 1982, when as a high school football player he "could've taken State".   Certainly explains why he constantly videotapes himself tossing pigskin. 

You might surmise that Hess is mocking these characters.  Well, poking fun at the very least.  I take NAPOLEON DYNAMITE as a celebration of them.  They seem to have a certain self awareness, even Summer Wheatly (Haylie Duff), the most most popular girl in school.  The performances are so perfect.  Never once do they succumb to easy caricature.  Hess assembled a perfect cast.  And created what I consider a nearly perfect quirky comedy.