I haven't seen it. Just curious as to why its so popular?

I think the best part about that movie is that i can see every single character and every single scene actually happening in real life. Kinda reminds me of my high school. Its not rolling-on-floor-laughing funny IMO, but defenitly funny and worth watching.

it was a worthless movie with only one funny part in the entire thing. The comedy isn't very thick, the comedy comes from how everyone is nerds and looks/acts like a uber nerd.

Waste of time


Put it this way, when I rented it from Blockbuster I read the back which said that it was a movie about the main character helping his friend win the class election. So that was supposed to be the plot, but they don't even talk about this until over a hour into the movie. The rest of the movie is just about his family trying to sell fake tuff-a-ware and Napoleon's meaningless life.

Even when it does get to the part about the class election, I think it only last like 15 mintues and it's pretty dry.

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After watching it, I felt like I had wasted two hours of my life. I later caught myself referencing funny parts.

The movie is about extremely boring, albeit weird people - searching for acceptance in the often brutal and dynamic social environment that is day car... er, high school. Take a few elements from The Breakfast Club and mix it with a lot of dry humor.

You'll probably feel sorry for the characters at times, remember a few people like them here and there - but mostly just laugh at the extraordinary monotony of their day-to-day lives and how they cope with it.

Probably not worth your time, but it has its moments.

Your mom goes to college!

Napoleon Dynamite is an endlessly quirky film driven less by character development than by well-defined character idiosyncrasies. The director, Jared Hess, who also wrote the screenplay, is clearly influenced by the wide-angle static camera and severely flattened performances that Wes Anderson so popularized in his films. The humor is very dry, and those who don't like dry humor (or just don't have the endurance for it) will probably not enjoy the film. Nevertheless, the script is very creative and includes some memorable scenes and lines, the look of the film is suitably humorous, the acting is consistently deadpan, the jokes are well-timed, and Hess even manages to sneak in some truly striking and symbolically-relevant images, most notably of Napoleon dragging the action figure behind the bus. The scene of Napoleon dancing in front of the student body on Pedro's behalf is a surprise, not only in its cumulative humor, but also in the fact that Napoleon is undeniably good, at least within his own view of the world. Overall, Napoleon Dynamite is a little view of the pettiness and absurdity of existence in settings where not everyone fits or is understood, from high school to dysfunctional families to remote farming communities. Its humor works because we want Napoleon to succeed, no matter how weird he can be sometimes, because we've all been in situations where people have looked down on us and wanted us to fail. All in all, it's nowhere near a four-star film, but it manages to cook up some charm on its own terms, and I never felt like I'd wasted my 82 minutes. But be forewarned, if you think that Jack Black and Ben Stiller are the best comedians working today, you'll probably hate this movie. If you, instead, prefer the likes of Christopher Guest and, as I said earlier, Wes Anderson, you'll love the wry wit and offbeat humor of Napoleon Dynamite.

I also forgot to mention that this film takes place in the 80's and was made a while ago. People liked it on the independant movie scene and Fox bought the rights to it for 3 million. Then added MTV and some other company to help pay for the cost of publicity and the overhype.

And the entire movie was edited on a Mac.


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the movie doesn't take place in the 80's. Its set in modern day Idaho, which is apparently still in the 80's

The movie has lots of great retarded lines like...
KIP "Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter."

REX "Take a look at what I'm wearing, people. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it."

Plus my avatar is from the movie (mad dance moves can be learned from this film)

the movie is popular because of its endless quotability. my favorite line from the whole film (which isn't a very popular line by any means) is "SIX DOLLARS!? THAT'S LIKE....A DOLLAR AN HOUR!" as he counts his paycheck in fucking change... hahahahaha

if you though this movie wasn't funny, then you are "2cool" for it. as in you think you are better than it. chill out, laugh at it

Whatever, I'm 2cool for everything, and I enjoyed the movie.

Everyone likes a certain brand of comedy.

This movie is very entertaining for those that can read the everyday comedy in people......especially dorks like these kids.

So really, some dont like the movie because they dont understand.
They are most likely dorks themselves, or just...not smart.

Ha ha...my mom DOES go to college...

Tambora, can you go into any more detail on the symbolic relevance of dragging the action figure behind the bus? I don't think I picked up on that.

"Skills. You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."

Oh and..."I like your sleeves. They're big." "Thanks, I made them myself."

"Tricia, there's more where this came from if you go with me to the dance."

"I spent like three hours shading your upper lip."

Napoleon is a guy who's getting dragged through life by a bunch of people (a busload, if you will) who just don't care about him, or, rather, just care about themselves to his detriment. The action figure is some kind of a superhero character (if I remember correctly), and as the movie shows, Napoleon eventually proves that he does have "powers" that nobody knew about. Sure, they're kooky, sure they're just dancing skills, but he ends up galvanizing a whole student body, saving Pedro the election and overall proving his worth to the people around him in his own weird way.

I'm sure that Hess intended at least part of that interpretation, especially the first part of it. I also think that the scene of him in the barn surrounded by thousands of chickens is also somewhat representational of how he views the people populating the world around him. And as it turns out, he's mostly right. Jared Hess did a pretty good job, all things considered.

Overanalyzing comedy ruins it, I know. But I'd like to point out that the story of Napoleon Dynamite succeeds on some levels apart from comedy, though comedy is certainly its central goal. And that post-credits wedding scene is absolutely hilarious.

"Sorry I'm late, I was taming a honeymoon steed"