Napoleon Dynamite

Last night I screened Napoleon Dynamite, starring John Heder as the title character with friend and radio partner Jim and his lovely and gracious wife Sylwin, and I can say without reservation, see this movie.

Set in Idaho farm country, the film tracks a slice in the life of Napoleon Dynamite, an uber-dork who lives with his grandma and unemployed brother Kip, played by Aaron Ruell in an acting debut.

Jared Hess's film takes about twenty minutes to grow on you, but in the interim you are entertained by plenty of squirmingly funny scenes as we get to know the principles. Heder plays Napoleon with scalpel-like incisiveness, portraying the quirks and mannerisms of bottom social tier adolescents with brutal believability in spite of dancing perilously close to a Saturday Night Live caricature. He bristles with a young man's defensive aggression without making the audience feel like they are witnessing an irredeemable adolescent ass.

Many of the characters deliver their dialogue like normal people giving lines, but that works to add charm. There is an awkwardness to the central characters that separate them from the "in" crowd who are smoother in their mannerisms and social standing.

I wasn't sure where the director was going with the film. There is a strange anachronistic quality, Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) has a small, modern cell phone, but is driving a van circa 1978. Even the "in" characters are culturally about 5 to 10 years behind. In an after-movie discussion I posited that this being a small town in Idaho (The entire student body fit into an auditorium for about 400) that being out of phase with more cosmopolitan regions is probably normal. Herculaneum Missouri is a little bit like this, and come to think of it Eminence sure as heck is.

Director Hess and his wife Jerusha (who co-wrote the screenplay) share an alma matter with lead John Heder, namely Brigham Young University. I speculate that the influence of Mormon faith accounts for the complete lack of bad language and the chaste romance. Napoleon replaces f-bomb variants with "flip" and "flipping" to hilarious effect. One female anatomical reference made use the old-fashioned "bust".

Most remarkable is that the conflicts aren't that earth-shaking, but compelling to watch nonetheless. The "in" kids, really aren't so villainous. The big jock dating the pretty Summer is provoked by Napoleon, but doesn't clobber him. Bullying stays at the level of horseplay, never reaching cruelty.

Even the character arcs are small, just barely registering. To me this is the movie's appeal. We people aren't really polarized, some evil, some righteous nor do we change in great leaps. Our insight into ourselves come in increments, tiny steps that we build upon. Napoleon Dynamite captures this process, peeking into the lives of teenagers and the adults in their lives with greater veritas and affection than the polished outcasts of The Breakfast Club. These dorks slug away at their lives, forging relationships without self pity or angst. Napoleon Dynamite is a superb effort.

Tim McNabb