PLOT:
Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) is a high school student from Preston, Idaho who lives with his Grandma, his brother Kip and their pet llama, Tina.
Kip Dynamite (Aaron Ruell) is an unemployed 32-year-old who boasts of spending hours in Internet chat rooms with ‘babes’ and training to be a cage fighter. Napoleon daydreams his way through school, doodling fantastic magical creatures and getting bullied. Grandma is admitted to a hospital after she has a dune riding accident while visiting friends.
Believing her grandsons cannot be trusted to look after themselves, she asks Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to stay with them while she recovers. Uncle Rico is a middle-aged failed American quarterback who lives in an orange 1975 Dodge Santana campervan and is stuck in the year 1982 (a fact which caused a breakup with his girlfriend). His presence, although increasingly irksome to Napoleon, is a boon to Kip as he and Uncle Rico embark on a joint project to become door-to-door salesmen selling a Tupperware-like product. Kip reveals that he would like to earn some money to enable him to meet his new Internet girlfriend from Detroit, Lafawnduh Lucas (Shondrella Avery). Uncle Rico is not averse to using Napoleon’s name to gain credibility in his attempts to sell herbal breast-enhancement products to Napoleon’s school mates, causing increasing friction between Uncle Rico and Napoleon.
As the plot progresses, Napoleon makes two new friends from high school, Deb and Pedro. Deb (Tina Majorino) is a shy and sensitive girl who seems to take a liking to Napoleon. The two have a fight however, when Uncle Rico attempts to sell her breast-enhancement herbs and implies that Napoleon suggested it. Pedro (Efren Ramirez) is a transfer student from Juarez, Mexico, who promptly decides to run for class president against the popular ‘babe’, Summer Wheatly (Haylie Duff). Despite a couple of hiccups, the campaign goes well right up until the time Pedro is just about to deliver his final speech at which time he realises that each candidate has to perform a skit afterwards. Having not prepared any such routine, a despondent Pedro gives a short speech believing that his candidacy is over. However, Napoleon displays uncharacteristic quick-wittedness by giving the tape in his Walkman to the sound engineer and performs a well-rehearsed, energetic dance routine, which wins a standing ovation from the school audience.
The film closes out with a montage of scenes showing a happy ending for all concerned. Pedro wins the class presidency. LaFawnduh, having journeyed from Detroit to visit Kip, is immediately smitten. After she transforms Kip’s fashion, they leave town together. A fully recovered Grandma returns and has clearly missed Tina, the llama, more than her grandchildren. Uncle Rico’s girlfriend, who is mentioned earlier in the movie when Rico and Kip are eating lunch, returns to Rico and his van, as well. And finally, Napoleon is playing tetherball by himself until Deb shows up and starts playing with him, having forgiven her friend.
A post credits scene reveals Kip and LaFawnduh getting married.
REVIEW:
It took me forever and a day to finally see this film the first time. Seemed like everyone I knew had seen and was talking about it. A couple of years later, I finally saw it and loved it. To this day it is still one of my favorites.
This is one of those independent films that doesn’t have any big stars. I think the biggest name is Haylie Duff, and she’s known more for being Hilary’s sister than anything else. However, it did launch the career of Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez isn’t doing too shabby either.
The thing that bothers me the most about this film, or it may be the charm about it, is that you’re not exactly sure when it is set. It appears to be taking place in the 80s or so, then Kip talks about internet dating and stuff and it brings it into the present. I guess styles and stuff are supposed to be a little behind up there in Preston, Idaho.
This film is one of those polarizing type of movies that you either love i or hate it. Some may even flip flop on it. For me, I love it, but then I like most comedies if they can make me laugh, and this one definitely does it. The 80s music helps the movie’s cause out a bit, as well. This a must-see!
5 out of 5 stars
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