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dvd.review.napoleon.dynamite |
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 02 January 2005 15:51 |
"You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking
skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."
 Movie
Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) the ultimate nerd. In every school in the
history of the world, there has been a Napoleon Dynamite type
character. He's got a funny voice, he has weird mannerisms, his
interests are nerdy, and he gets easily upset.
Napoleon is from a small town in Idaho where he really has no friends.
His famliy life is very different. He lives with his nerdy 30-something
brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) and his Grandma (Sandy Martin). His Grandma
gets hurt and his uncle Rico (Jon Gries) moves in with the family. Both
Kip and Rico live in a bit of an alternative universe. Kip spends all
day chatting with girls on the internet which he thinks makes Napoleon
jealous. Rico thinks that if the coach would've put him in the fourth
quarter of the football game his senior year, he would've had a chance
to go pro. Until Pedro (Efren Ramirez) moves to town, Napoleon really
has no friends.
The plot of the film isn't what makes this film work. It's more the
backwoods character of Napoleon that makes this film a classic. From
all of his one-liners to watching him learn dance moves in his bedroom
after school to watching him interact with girls, everything that
Napoleon does is just hilarious. Throughout the whole movie, you are
definitely laughing at Napoleon more than you are laughing with him.
Video & Sound
The look of the film is like that of an indie film. Since the budget
was around $400,000, this shouldn't be much of a surprise. Since this
disc is a flipper, both 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full
frame versions of the film are available. There is some grain in both
transfers and overall I wouldn't say this was the sharpest looking film
I've ever seen, but the color was pretty decent. Not bad, but
definitely not reference material if you're looking to show off that
new HDTV. While it features a Dolby 5.1 surround track, a majority of
the sound comes through the center track. Nothing fancy...
Extras
My favorite extra was definitely the commentary featuring Jon Heder,
Jared Hess and Jeremy Coon. Hess carries the conversation drawing upon
childhood experiences to explain how or why certain scenes were
created. It's definitely an interesting listen if you're a fan of the
movie. There are four deleted scenes that are all pretty funny. There
are also MTV promos which basically take the place of the trailer.
Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on.
Closing Thoughts...
A fine first feature from Jared Hess who is just two years older
than myself. Although this is a love-it-or-hate-it type of movie, I can
say with much confidence that anyone with a sense of humor will at
least fine pieces of this movie to enjoy.
Overall Score
Movie - 9
Video & Sound - 6
Extras - 6
Overall - 7
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