tisdag 31 december 2019

15 Years Anniversary Review Of Napoleon Dynamite

Let´s travel back to the year of 2004. I remember several thing about this year, and i will mention some of the things i especially remember. This was the year when i went to my first Limp Bizkit concert in Stockholm, on their Results May Vary Tour. It was nice to hear live versions of songs, taken from their album Results May Vary, an album i still listen to. 2004 was the year when TV series Lost debuted on ABC, and became a hit TV series. Lost acually turned out to be one the better TV series that year, with a great cast and an interesting plot. This was also the year when Ben Affleck film known as Gigli, won several awards at the Golden Rasperry Awards 2004. The film won in the categories such as Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Director, Worst Screen Couple and Worst Screenplay. I have seen Gigli a long time ago. Gigli is a really bad film, and could possible be one of the worst films that Ben Affleck has ever made. But in the summer of 2004, something magical was about to happen. A small independent film was about to take the whole world by storm. A small independent film known as Napoleon Dynamite, was released in the summer of 2004. I saw the film first on DVD, since the film did not show in theatres here in Sweden ( except for a few places ). But i remember the first time i watched this film, i fell in love. This was exactly what i needed, a comedy filled with family issues, personal problems, and most of all odd characters. Since this film was released i have probably seen this film over 15 times. But since this film turned 15 years this year, i thought it would be a good idea to celebrate, considering this is such a cult Classic. Is this still one of the best independent comedies in many years, or has the magic of Napoleon Dynamite started to fade away ?

Napoleon Dynamite ( Jon Heder ) is a socially awkward 16-year-old who lives in Preston, Idaho, with his Grandmother, Carlinda Dynamite ( Sandy Martin ) and his older brother, Kipling Ronald " Kip" Dynamite ( Aaron Ruell ), 32 years old, who is unemployed and spend hours on chat rooms with his girlfriends, dreaming about becoming a cage fighter. Napoleon daydreams his way through school, especially about fantasy creatures such as ligers. This is his way to deal with him being bullied at school. When the new student Pedro Sanchez ( Efren Ramirez ) begins at school, Napoleon gets the chance to find a new friend who he can share his thoughts, and visions with. The school is looking for a new class president, and Pedro Sanchez will run as a candidate, with Napoleon as his biggest support. But things become complicated when both Napoleon and Pedro want to go with their female friend Deborah " Deb " Bradshaw to the prom dance. 

Even if 15 years have passed, Napoleon Dynamite is still one of the best independent comedies of the 2000´s. This film has everything you could wish for, black comedy, great characters, fantastic soundtrack, wonderful dialogue and wonderful costume design. This is probably my favourite school comedy, where this film manage to capture everything we all recognize from bulluying, weight issues, depression, becoming an adult and much more. Lead actor Jon Heder is brilliant as Napoleon Dynamite, and he manage to make Napoleon a very odd character, but in a wonderful way. In some ways you could probably say that we all have had a Napoleon Dynamite at our school, an odd student with passion for odd things. But we have so many more characters to talk about, so let´s continue with Kip, played by actor Aaron Ruell. Kip is one of those characters that are so nerdy and wonderful, that you can´t help loving his personality. Just the fact that he is impressed over himself, over chatting with babes online, shows you what kind of guy he is, a true ladies man. One of my favourite characters of this film, is without a doubt Napoleon´s friend Pedro Sánchez, played by actor Efren Ramirez. Pedro is one of the funniest characters in this film, with some fantastic dialogue. Let´s not forget another wonderful performance from actor Jon Gries, playing Uncle Rico. The thing about Uncle Rico is that he is still trapped in the 80´s, when he have planned to be an American football star. And this is also a very funny part of this film, as he dreams away to his past, when he is stuck as a salesman. From a comedy perspective, this film have so many delightful moments. Weird moments, are combined with brilliant tunes, and the characters match the storyline. Director Jared Hess have made a film that will live on as a cult film, for a very long time. He knew exactly what the world needed, and Napoleon Dynamite will always be his best film. If you have not seen Napoleon Dynamite, you need to see it. This is one of the funniest films of the 2000´s, and a must have on DVD or Blu Ray.

Rating: DDDD

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