Napoleon Dynamite

A socially challenged high-school misfit helps his lone friend run for class president.

The opening credits of Napoleon Dynamite immediately bring to mind Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, but where Rushmore had passion and charm, Napoleon Dynamite has none.

Napoleon Dynamite is a mean movie. Rather than being a simple social misfit, the titular character seems to have real development issues, and thus, laughing at him just feels mean. Other characters have similar issues, and with the exception of Diedrich Bader’s cameo—which is easily the film’s highligh—there are no enjoyable characters in the entire movie.

This is because the filmmakers play the satire so straight it could pass for drama. A slightly more exaggerated approach may have helped, but in the end the movie feels like one of those overlong Saturday Night Live sketches that are more uncomfortable than funny. You’re tired of these characters long before the movie ends, and are left with no desire to revisit them.

That said, some will undoubtedly have no problem with the humor of this film and really enjoy it, but I’m not one of them.