Review of Napoleon Dynamite (2004) by Marty H — 05 Aug 2014

"Napoleon Dynamite" became the little movie that could of the year, maybe even the decade, with positive word of mouth spreading like a wildfire propelling the movie to become one of the more profitable films of the year.

The backlash against it was almost immediate, and there's clearly no grey area here: you're either going to love it or hate it. I've long since been a huge proponent of the film, a refreshing and unbelievably offbeat alternative to the usual gross-out comedy or lame teen films. The performances are fresh and the characters and this hilarious dialogue has become a part of pop culture whether we wanted it to or not.

I laughed a lot, even if I didn't always know why simply because the film is so unusual and one-of-a-kind. It's a rare movie that always feels fresh and I'm always finding new things to laugh at, and a lot of this dialogue has become part of our vernacular just because it's so much fun to recite.

Jon Heder came out of nowhere and nailed this role, making Napoleon a character for the ages but there's not one actor in the cast who doesn't make a contribution to the film's peculiar success. Most of this ridiculous dialogue only works because of the way its delivered. The soundtrack is just as quirky as the rest of this and really helps to maintain the film's off-kilter tone.

"Napoleon Dynamite" is a film that still makes me laugh out loud, and even when I wasn't laughing, I was smiling the whole time. It's not to everyone's tastes, but it sure won me over.