Rating of
2.5/4
"nap[oleon Dynamite" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 07/07/12
Napoleon Dynamite is based on a series of skits that were showcased on MTV and feature a buck-toothed, slack-jawed high school nerd who lives in a fantasy world of his own construction. It's an affectionate parody of small town America in the "triumph of the geek" tradition in which the social outcasts find happiness and acceptance in the face of abuse and derision by their more popular peers. It's more gently amusing than laugh out loud funny as it's just a series of surreal skits revolving around Napoleon and his family's social awkwardness but it's a lot more likeable than most American comedies of this type because it avoids the usual formula of hateful middle class yobs and their bodily secretions amidst vile misogyny that has become the staple of the genre since American Pie sullied our screens. Quirky, silly, inoffensive fun.