Premise: Can a geek be elected class president?
Pros: Not the same old thing
Cons: Believable?
In the first scene of the movie Napoleon skulks onto the school bus in his brown moon boots, sits in the back and is asked by a pesky little freshman, "What are you going to do today," at which time he sullenly responds, "Whatever I feel like I wanna do, go-ossshhhh!" This 'Napoleon Statement' kind of sums up what the movie does in regards to plot, character development & direction: Whatever it wants.
Now, when I first heard about this film from my peers in the industry... ok, it was actually from people I just kinda know, barely... I heard rave reviews about how it was the funniest movie ever, original plot, great music, yada yada. The truth is when I watched this movie I was speechless. It was that indescribable... almost. Directed and co-written by Jared Hess, this feature film directorial debut is a quirky little yarn about weird Idaho adolescent Napoleon (Jon Heder), his even weirder non-adolescent Internet-freak brother Kip (Aaron Ruell), their uncle's obsession with football, a Llama named Tina, Pedro's desire to be class president of Preston High School, Kip's soulmate LaFawnduh, and a fierce game of tetherball which begins with a friendship bracelet.
Does it work? Barely. Napoleon's character is believable enough in that he's played with a certain gloomy teenage rebellion -- even more believable when we realize his homelife is a little bleak and he pretty much has no friends (even the Llama gets more attention than he does). Some of the deadpan exaggeration comes off as stilted and unbelievable. We buy that there could be teenagers like this, but only up to a point. Fortunately, the ending trumps most high school movie endings in a big way. Kudos to Jon Heder's comic acting for bringing deadpan humor, heart and a little silent resentment to a character that we might have known (or were) in high school. Just remember when someone asks what you did over the summer, you can answer with a 'Napoleon Statement': "I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!"
Oh, yeah the soundtrack does rock: (Bow Wow Wow, John Swihart, Jamiroquai, Yaz, Sparklemotion).
http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/napoleondynamite
