Spot on Portrait of Rural Living

Napoleon Dynamite has been criticized for a number of reasons. People have complained that it doesn't have a plot, that the actors show no emotions, and that it relies on too much stupid humor. In my opinion, people that feel this way are missing the point. Napoleon Dynamite is a hilarious, heartwarming movie because of all of the above mentioned things.

The movie is named for the title character, one Napoleon Dynamite. He is the epitome of a sheltered, backwoods raised, nerd. He and his older brother Kip live with their grandmother in the town of Preston, Idaho. Napoleon leads a life of blissful ignorance. He tosses action figures out the back of the bus on the way to school, feeds his family's fat, lard of a pet llama Tina, and gives his current events report in class about Chinese Wizards and the Loch Ness monster. However, his perfect life is shattered when he meets two new friends, and an old acquaintance.
 
Napoleon's life is thrown into disarray when his grandma takes a spill while riding her four-wheeler at the sand dunes. In need of a babysitter for Kip and Napoleon, who are like 30 and 18 years old respectively, she calls on the boy's uncle Rico. Rico is a steak eating, muscle showing, former football player that left his girlfriend because she told him he was "Living too much in 1984." Convinced that he would have won the state championship for his high school team had his coach put him into the game, Rico takes every available opportunity to prove the strength of his arm. My favorite line? "How much you wanna bet I could throw a football over them mountains?"

Eager to earn some money while watching over his nephews, Rico enlists Kip in some money making schemes. Reluctant to be torn away from his online chat room, where he believes that he has found his soul mate Lafawnda, Kip joins his uncle in the selling of tupperware and Bust Must Plus, which is a natural breast enhancement. Meanwhile Napoleon is dealing with girl problems of his own with the arrival of Deb.

Deb shows up on the Dynamite front porch selling boondoggles in order to get into college. Boondoggles are one of the many inside jokes that the movie throws out in order to elicit belly laughs from past Boy and Girl scouts. When Napoleon drily comments that he made "Like infinity of those at Scout camp" I couldn't help but smile because I think that some of my friends did too. I was never one for boondoggles, but whenever my fellow troop members weren't working on merit badges you could find them at the nearest bench weaving those little plastic bands back and forth.

This, for me, was one of the greatest joys while watching Napoleon Dynamite. Because I grew up in a small town in rural Utah I was exposed to many of the same things that are encountered in the movie. I laughed at the extremely corny Rex Quon Do commercial (yes, they really are that bad), felt for our hero as he drank rotten milk as part of an FFA competition, and certainly could relate to the part when Napoleon gets paid about six dollars for a days worth of work moving turkeys. My hometown has a much higher population of turkeys than people, and minimum wage seems to be a lot lower here as well. 

The second friend that Napoleon meets is a new student at Preston High called Pedro Sanchez. Just as Napoleon's character takes the idiosyncrasies of a white nerd to the extreme, Pedro expands on the traits of small town hispanics. He rides a bike with shocks to school, has a large extended family (complete with bouncer cousins that drive a hydraulic, low-rider), and decides to play hooky for some of the most capricious reasons out there. I myself had some hispanic friends in elementary school that would claim they were going to Mexico to visit relatives for a week only to never return. Nestor! Whatever happened to you! 

The middle section of the plot, if you can call it that, is devoted to Napoleon and Pedro's problem of getting a date and clothes for an upcoming dance. Thwarted by his own new best friend out of asking Deb, Napoleon decides to call on the beautiful Trisha. In order to swoon his prospective date he draws her a picture of herself and proclaims to her that it took him " Like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip." Classic!

During the dance, Pedro sets his eyes on a poster and decides to run for the most  important office in the school other than the janitor; the office of student body president. Standing in his way is the popular dancer Summer, played by Hilary Duff's older sister Haley, and her jock/dunce of a boyfriend Don. Determined to see his new best bro in the school's Oval Office, Napoleon hits the campaign trail in support of Pedro. The movie's climax takes place during the speeches of the two candidates and the ensuing skits that both must perform. 

Perhaps the greatest thing about Napoleon Dynamite, besides its relevance to real rural life, is its endless amounts of quotes. Even if you didn't like the movie, you can't help but join in whenever someone spouts one of its many genius lines. Honestly, anyone that hasn't heard "Gosh" or "Freakin' Idiot" has probably been living under a rock for the past four years. 

The acting of Napoleon Dynamite is perfect for the movie. Jon Heder, who plays Napoleon, does a wonderful job of portraying someone who is oblivious to and uncaring for the world around him. He shows little emotion, but his perfectly simple, bored facial expression is enough to make just about anyone laugh. The supporting cast also is excellent with everyone filling their roles nicely.