I’ve also heard that it’s a movie made by Mormons for Mormons. Thus, no cursing, etc. in the movie. You might have to look that up, but I’m pretty sure it’s legit. I was told by a Mormon friend that that’s how they really talk and dress in places heavily populated by Mormons (such as Idaho).
Actually, my first comment to my girlfriend after we watched this was “I’m surprised the State of Idaho isn’t suing the filmmakers for defamation.”. I mean, that movie makes Idaho look like the most ass-backward, jerkwater place on the planet, and I can’t imagine that it’s really anywhere near that bad.
Hell, a friend of mine in college came from a small town (~1000 or so) in rural north-central Iowa, and his 1993 high school year book pictures were about where Houston high schools in 1989 had been in terms of haircuts and clothing, not mid-70s!
My guess is that the movie was aimed at the same people(now 28-35) that the movies like “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles” were aimed at, but somewhat updated, and that’s why it was so anachronistic.
As for Napoleon, how old was he supposed to be? If he was supposed to be 15 and a freshman, then the fascination with nunchuks and stuff like that would have been about right. If he was supposed to be 17 and a senior, then he was pretty immature.
Nope. The skeevy uncle was in high school in the early eighties. His wife left him because he wouldn’t stop living in 1981. Plus, they’ve got internet scams (the time machine) and chatrooms (where Napoleon’s brother meets his girlfriend).
Incidentally, try entering “Napoleon Dynamite” into the search engine at the IMDB, and look at what shows up under “Other Results.” I found it very surprising.
Naturally, YMMV, but several friends of my husband and mine are from that town (Preston, is it?) in Idaho - a co-worker actually knows Jon Heder personally and went to school with him - and all of them find this movie hilarious. They say that’s what life is like there, but “exactly”. Myself, I can’t say, since I’ve never been there, so this is just second hand information.
I love Napoleon Dynamite, and my husband just got the DVD for his birthday. He, his younger brother, and myself all died laughing at it, while his father kind of snerked at it, but kept flapping his hands at the TV and leaving the room, saying it just frustrated him to watch it. I rate it 8/10 - “acquired taste”.
- I apologise for any spelling or grammatical errors in this post, as I just got off the phone with about half of my family and their quaint regional dialect and I’m still trying to wake up after only a couple hours’ sleep… each time I look over my post, I get a vague feeling that there’s something not quite right, and I’m certain I’ve made some horrendous grammatical errors, but I’m too foggy to quite figure it all out. So, here I post, with regrets and much love. Please forgive my sins this one time. Head full of pudding, and all that.
That’s just sad. All through the movie, I was wondering whether the ‘clever twist’ was that everyone is the film was actually retarded, or stoned, or somesuch. Now i know the awful truth…sigh
The movie is really big with the kids who think shopping at “Hot Topic” makes them cool…like my 13 year old step-daughter. I keep trying to tell her that being different, just like everyone else, doesn’t make you any different, but its like trying to talk to a…well…a 13 year old girl.
The commentary is pretty good though - particularly when you realize that the actor playing ND was 24 at the time.
Checking in from IDAHO
On Christmas day my son called me from Germany and told me I HAD to watch this movie. He thought it was so stereotypical that it was hilarious. We live in a small town (not as small as Preston though) about 80 miles from where this was filmed and some neighbors have relatives that are extras in the movie. I think people around here, especially those in their late teens and early twenties like this film because of the memories they have of what life was like in the late 80’s, early 90’s when they were kids. The sign language presentations, the dance (drill) team/cheerleaders, although they didn’t bob their heads nearly enough, the clothing style, Grandma going to the Sand Dunes, the lanyards, even Tina, we relate to all of this so well and it’s fun to laugh at the way things use to be even if it is suppose to take place now. I had the feeling that the guys who wrote it came from somewhere right around here and were embellishing childhood memories with a quirky plot. I think I remember that they went to school at BYU so that brings the Mormoness into play but I don’t think it’s a “Mormon” movie. Anyway, they had a Napoleon Dynamite day at the high school here during spirit week recently and the word sweet is in constant use again. I thought the movie was good for a laugh but didn’t love it as much as my kids seem to. And yeah, some people do talk like that but not, of course, everyone.
I rented the movie on iControl a week ago or so. Watched it the whole way through. Didn’t really see what the big deal was. I did identify with ND, but mostly because he was alot like I was in Middle School. And I didn’t really like it (the identifying). I did laugh at a few parts though, but didn’t think it was as cool as everyone made it out to be.
Then Ms. Whiteyfoo decided to watch it, and having nothing to do, I sat down and watched it with her. That was a damn funny movie. I don’t know why I liked it so much better the second time. Maybe I wasn’t cringing inside as much. Maybe I was able to concentrate on the script. I have no idea, but I laughed…alot.
She thought it was funny immediatly. She was never one of the uncool kids, so she didn’t identify with ND (or any other character). She was one of the Cool kids when she was in school. So I’d guess that has something to do with your perception of the movie.
Overall though, it wasn’t the best movie ever, nor was it the worst. It’s slightly above average. 8/10.
I don’t remember Ghost World having a lot of big yucks in it either. It’s not that kind of movie.
I don’t think I actually said that. I said if you don’t get it (e.g. the OP who wonders why the main character is unlikable), then you probably wouldn’t get those other two movies.
If you do get it, and still don’t like it, well then we’ll have to agree to disagree. It’s not “Gone With the Wind”, but I thought it was an entertaining movie.
Au contraire, mon frere. I think one of the reasons I liked the movie so much was that I was NOT popular in high school(I’m of course wildly popular now at 31, naturally…pshaw). I got shunned like Napoleon, Pedro and whatserfacewiththesleeves, so I could relate to them. My laughter was not AT anyone, I thought things were genuinely funny.
Of course, having said that, I don’t particularly care if anyone else likes it or doesn’t. Hell, I hated the first LOTR movie and refuse to see the other 2, and those are movies that people can’t shut up about. (This is actually a really HUGE pet peeve of mine - people’s opinions differ, get over it. You don’t have to like it or even understand it, but it doesn’t make them idiots or freaks. Usually. 
) I have my copy of ND on DVD, and I’ll probably watch the shit out of it. You don’t have to.
I had an interesting experience watching Napoleon Dynamite that may relate to the discussion here. I saw the movie in a theater. I liked it. I didn’t necessarily view it in terms of “identifying” with any of the characters. I just thought the oddness and almost-surrealist quality of the story gave it a lot of enjoyable humor. Different humor from what you get with most movies, but still pretty funny. In short: it’s quirky, and I like quirky.
Now, I’m 36 years old. However, almost all of the others in that theater watching the movie were teenagers; the bulk of the audience was at least half my age. And I got the distinct impression that these kids were indeed laughing at Napoleon and company, not with them. From that experience, I got the impression that a lot of what has driven the popularity of the movie is that reaction: a kind of finger-pointing, smirking, more than a little mean-spirited humor at the expense of those who are different. I don’t think that was the movie makers’ intentions, but I think it worked out that way.
Like I said, I liked the movie, and I think it has its merits. But I also think a lot of the popularity is based on snarkiness.
Yeah, it’s quirky.
But for me, the quirkiness was so studied and cultivated.
That’s just how it felt to me.
Someone else said that he wasn’t that crazy about the movie while he was watching it, but the next day, doing goofy quotes from various scenes was fun.
That’s been my experience as well.
Need to add:
Agree about the snarkiness. This is why I hated myself whenever I did laugh at the movie. 
I don’t think Napoleon Dynamite has been successful or popular enough to merit wondering about. It seems to have some cult success among high school and college students, but it wasn’t an huge hit like My Big Fat Greek Wedding or anything.
I have noticed a lot of people mentioning ND, but only on the Internet and on campus. Even then people who are actually discussing the film’s merits generally say “I expected it to be non-stop laughs from the way people were always talking about it, but it wasn’t that funny. It was okay, but not great.” Then they usually wind up quoting a bunch of lines. Whatever else you may say about the movie, people love to quote it.
My baby sister (college sophomore) had the whole family watch it over Christmas, and although I think it’s only a favorite with my sister we all liked it well enough. My mother grew up in a small, rural farming community, and identified with the setting. Yes, rural America really can be that far behind the times, although I think it’s important to keep in mind that Napoleon shops at the secondhand store and that he and his family are out-of-it even by local standards.
I think it is a bit of a problem for the film that Napoleon isn’t a more likeable guy, because if the audience doesn’t sympathize with him at all then they’re left in the position of either laughing at him or finding the whole movie unpleasant and unfunny. Unlike most movie geeks, Napoleon isn’t particularly smart or talented, wouldn’t be really good-looking even with a makeover, and has genuinely poor social skills. This guy isn’t shy or misunderstood, he’s really obnoxious and bad with people. Guys (and girls!) like this exist – they’re the geeks that even other geeks barely tolerate. It’s a risky move to make such a character your protagonist. However, what redeemed the character for me was that he was a genuinely good friend to Pedro and put himself on the line to help with his campaign. That’s what made him likeable to me.
I must also say it was refreshing to see a teen comedy that wasn’t about sex, didn’t rely on gross-out humor, and was not an “ugly duckling” story.
It’s funny, because if I had read this OP while watching the movie, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. After I watched it at a party recently I went home and told my sister about it. I started off saying “Hey CockatielSis, I saw this horrible movie called Napolean Dynamite.”
But then I started telling her about it and, despite the fact that I was practically falling asleep during the movie, began laughing about a lot of the jokes. I’ve never hated a movie so much while watching it but liked it so much more after I reminisced about it.
But honestly, I would probably give it a 7, 7.5 tops. Although there were some moments that I really did laugh at, the lack of storyline definitely takes away points. But I suppose that’s the charm of Napolean Dynamite, isn’t it?
Read the first Trivia entry.
Add me to the “loved Ghost World, didn’t like Napoleon Dynamite” camp. IMO, as others have said, it tried too hard to force its “cult” status upon me. A comparison I made after first seeing it was that it was like One Night At McCool’s in that regard.
I think everyone has Napoleon moments, when you act like a jerk or a spaz or hate your relatives. I know I do.
Heh… I understand the point you are trying to make here, but… you know, if old Napoleon could get a makeover and look like this guy, he might not be so bad off
(yes, the shaggy haired fellow is who I mean, and yes, that is Jon Heder, for those who don’t know what I’m linking to)
Oh, the actor is a perfectly nice looking young man IRL, but not really good-looking in the Hollywood movie star sense. Napoleon isn’t one of those movie geeks where a pair of ugly glasses and a bad hairstyle is all that’s keeping them from a career in professional modelling.
Oh, I agree, I agree. I just wanted to find an excuse to post that picture I found, since it was the first time I’d ever seen what Jon Heder looks like when he’s not being Napoleon, and I kind of went “Whoa… not bad, honey!”
I agree he’s not Hollywood stock. Maybe Domino’s Pizza commercial stock - which isn’t saying much