I received Napolean Dynamite for Christmas. I confess that I didn’t love it.
I am probably going to see the people who gave it to me this weekend. I don’t want to lie, but I don’t want to hurt their feelings either.
So, for you fans of Napolean - help me craft a review that isn’t too bad AND isn’t a lie.
I feel your pain.
Just say, “I found it to be well-focused. The lighting was superb and I could understand the dialog without problems.”
I found it to be a kinder, gentler Welcome to the Dollhouse.
I think you pretty much have to lie in these situations. “Yeah, it was pretty funny!”
But then you’ll get caught in the “What was your favorite part?” trap.
I’m afraid the only response I could give would be “Why? Dear God why???” And lots of fist-shaking.
How do we know what you liked about it? If you didn’t like it, just say so. I don’t think you should pretend you liked it or invent good things to say about it if you don’t mean it?
Was there anything at all that you laughed at? Any good lines? Did you like the dance at the end? If you can honestly say yes to any of those things then that’s what you should bring. EG. “I didn’t love it but I laughed at the brother/ Uncle Rico/ the Karate guy/ Pedro,” Anything like that should be fine.
It’s not like you need to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down vote. You simply say, “Man, I knew all those motherfuckers in high school.”
Your friends will say, “I know, right?”
Then you toss around a few quotes and change the subject.
Sorry for being confusing…
Pretend that what I asked for was:
and not whether or not I should tell them that I didn’t like it.
LOL. Tempting, very tempting! 
::SIGH:: I guess not though.
Hmmmm. Not a bad idea - I can maybe work with that.
If they catch you in a lie, just tell them you couldn’t appreciate it as much after all the hype, overquoting, MTV awards, etc.
Say, “Vote for Oscar[sup]®[/sup]!”
“Oh, that Tina!”
If you and your friends get into an argument about it, just go for a walk. All that fresh air and exercise will do you a lot of good.
You: It was pretty much the worst movie ever made.
Them: Like anyone can even know that, Khadaji.
The first time I saw it, I found it horrific.
The thing that a lot of the people that I know love it, don’t understand how poor Napoleon is, especially compared to his school mates. Talk about living out lives of quiet desperation.
First of all, can anyone tell me the correllation between this thread and the Google ads at the bottom for heart problems?
Secondly, I suggest that you watch the movie again. I didn’t love it, either, the first time I saw it.
If nothing else, you’ll never hear “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai (the song that Napoleon dances to at the end) without thinking of the movie.
I’ve got to agree with this. We rented it, and reactions went from “meh” to “WTF?” to “anything else on?”. However, when it made it to HBO, we caught parts of it pretty frequently, and actually came to enjoy it in time. There are some pretty funny, if understated, performances in it. Still not a big fan, but I’ll watch it if it’s on. But don’t force yourself - you’ll just resent it. Give it another shot in a month or so, and let us know if it changes at all for you.
Whatever you want. Gosh!
(Sorry. You set that up too well.)
Say that it was very different from anything else you’d ever seen (likely factually true in any case) and that you don’t feel you got it. They may try to explain it to you, at which point you can either listen politely or actually engage in debate, or they may Nod Knowingly and shift the topic. Either way you win.
Just say, “Man, I could relate to that.” or something like that.
Regardless of the overall suckosity of the movie, there had to be scenes that you thought were better or worse than others. Just say, “I didn’t quite get blah, blah, blah” or “that one girl was hot” or something along those lines.
If they ask, “So what did you think?”, say something like, “it was an interesting take on blah, blah, blah.”