re:mote voices

Title: Napoleon Dynamite
Cast: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Diedrich Bader, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Haylie Duff
Director: Jared Hess

Napoleon Dynamite has all the trademarks of the teen/high school comedy from America – the underdogs, the school dance, and election of school president. But the whole approach is a lot more raw and indie looking than we would usually get – even if the film is being put about by MTV.

None of the characters are particularly likeable, and there is little to relate to – this slice of America is particularly alien to a European like me. As a result Napoleon Dynamite is something of a mixed bag. At times people are laughing at what happens they are mocking those who are less than they are, which doesn’t make me entirely comfortable. On the other hand there are scenes which are more genuinely funny in a traditional manner, at least on some slapstick level.

Napoleon Dynamite seems to have been pretty well received and comes to a degree with a certain amount of hype around it, even if there is almost no actual publicity – I hadn’t seen a single trailer for it in the month it was showing before I decided to give it a go. However it is really quite an average film, which while it has it’s moments, it is some way from being all that – especially with a history of darker more subversive high school movies like Rushmore, Election or Saved! to compare it with.