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Napoleon Dynamite
Director: Jared Hess
Actors: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Efren Ramirez, Aaron Ruell, and Diedrich Bader
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Retail Price (not our price): $19.98
Release Date: 2004-12-21
Theatrical Release Date: 2004-08-27
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 95 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Discs: 1


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
As deadpan comedies go, Napoleon Dynamite stands in a class all its own. Played by John Heder, the title character is (in the words of critic Roger Ebert) "the kind of nerd other nerds avoid," a mouth-breathing dweeb with a mangy nest of orange hair, and ungainly features that suggest a perpetual state of half-conscious depression. He lives in Preston, Idaho (former home of 24-year-old director Jared Hess) with his thrill-seeking grandma and 32-year-old brother, and his days at high school consist mostly of being abused or ignored by indifferent classmates. Napoleon's sad-sack story doesn't offer the scathing, impassioned humor of Welcome to the Dollhouse because Hess (who cowrote the nearly plotless screenplay with his wife, Jerusha) doesn't have an angst-ridden axe to grind. Instead, the comedy (which exists in a tacky universe of worn-out rural suburbia) is so low-key that some will find it difficult to laugh, while others (i.e., those who feel superior to Napoleon) will have plenty of fun at Napoleon's expense. The result is a curiously uneven film, hilarious at times, but hampered by its own sense of affectionate mockery. An audience favorite at the Sundance film festival, Napoleon Dynamite may not be entirely lovable, but it's definitely unique. --Jeff Shannon

2) Description
Napoleon Dynamite is a new kind of hero, complete with a tight red 'fro, sweet moon boots, and skills that can't be topped. Napoleon spends his days drawing mythical beasts, duking it out with his brother, Kip, and avoiding his scheming Uncle Rico. When t

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5

1) Snore Fest Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
This is quite possibly one of the worst movies I have seen, I can not understand how so many people liked this movie. This movie just fell flat in so many ways and was so slow paced, the character were unlikable, the humor was dry as the Mohave desert. Don't get me wrong I do like some dry humor like The Monty Python movies but Napoleon Dynamite was beyond dry. There were maybe 2 funny parts I can count in the whole movie. But don't take my word for it, give a chance and go ahead and rent it. You might like it but for me it was a waste of time and a rental fee.

2) Very funny teen comedy   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
In a godforsaken small town in Idaho, Napoleon Dynamite, the nerd to end all nerds, tries to survive high school. Harassed by the school bullies, ignored by the girls, living in a dysfunctional family consisting of his thirty years old brother, his hospitalized grandmother and the con man of his uncle, he clings to his only friend in school, the Mexican immigrant Pedro, and Debbie (Tina Majorino, who made some hit films as a child actress during the 1990s and returns to a major film after a decade), who for some mysterious reason might be attracted to him. When Pedro decides to run for school president, Napoleon Dynamite sees this as an opportunity for revenge from the rest of his class. Napoleon Dynamite seems the impossible: an outrageously funny teen comedy with zero references to sexual humor or bodily functions (maybe this has to do with the writer director being a Mormon). At first, I didn't like the movie much, as most of the jokes were at Napoleon's expense, looking as if the director was joining the bullies. But it very soon warms up to his character. It does have a resemblance to some of the movies of Todd Solondz, but without the self-hate and with a much saner sense of humor.

3) Vote for Pedro!!!   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
This is a great movie that has absolutely no bad language or nudity or even any violence at all. It won't happen very often that I will give a movie like this a high rating, but this one deserves it. Everyone, no matter how old you are or where you are from, can relate to the characters in this movie. Also, another thing I've noticed about this movie is that people either love it or they hate it. I can remember the first time I watched it. I think we replayed several scenes multiple times due to how funny they were. Some of the things that Napoleon does are so incredibly stupid that they are hilarious. Napoleon and his older brother Kip are loners who don't have many if any friends. Napoleon is a high school student trying to fit in while Kip stays at home and carries out an odd relationship with an internet chat partner whom he has never met. Eventually they both find love but what's funny is the road they take to get there. The music in this movie even made me laugh. As stupid and corny as this movie is, it still delivers the goods when it comes to being a comedy. Great movie.

4) One of the GREATEST   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I love this movie. It is one of the greatest! I watch it over and over again. The humor of it all is like no other. This movie comes highly recommend if you like movies like 'Dude, where's my car', 'Friday' and the like.

5) The Prince of Preston   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
This is a small film, a very good one, told large. The director, Jared Hess, is a 24 year old wunderkind from the barrens of Preston, Idaho, and he has created a gem; a cousin to the Coens. This is a comedy that will sneak up on you, the stuff of belly laughs. Last year he did a 9-minute short film, PELUCA, starring Jon Heder, and it seems to have been the outline for this feature film. Hess is from Preston, and he filmed it as only a resident could; full of empty landscapes, lonely roads, farmers, ranchers, and rednecks. A scene where Napoleon gets a job for the day on a chicken ranch is worth the price of admission.There have been numerous comparisons for this movie to WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, and RUSHMORE. But for me this film stands firmly on its own. It plays out like an absurdist straight drama that also happens to be funny. It is reminiscent of some of the best moments in the Coen Brother's RAISING ARIZONA.The film was a big hit at Sundance, and it has been distributed well; a lucky break for Hess. Wouldn't it be wonderful if more of the youth of our country could rally behind this tiny epic, and create it as a cult film; that for a moment they step away from the commedia del raunchy that they mostly immerse themselves in; that they actually laugh at themselves, the way they really are, just kids struggling to grow up? The 13-30 year old demographic dictates our art, our music, and our movies. This little film could go a long ways in restoring the missing heart, the naivete and grace to the comedic genre.One real plus for me was the odd wholesomeness of this movie. There was zero profanity. Most of the time when a script deletes realistic high school vernacular, and changes the language to a lot of goshs, dangs, hecks, frigging, and freaking, it usually morphs quickly into the landscape of the lame. But somehow, Hess makes the lack of profanity work, and we don't miss it. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Jon Heder," geek deadpan perfection." He loved the film, and directs us," to laugh until it hurts." Heder is a lanky beanpole with a red Afro, all Adam's apple and oversized glasses, and overbite. At first glance one sees a young Yahoo Serious, or a Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson. But no, Heder is more natural, more believable, more absurd, and wonderfully unselfconscious. He is less the over-the-top screamer. In his best moments, like when he played tetherball with himself, or practiced his killer dance moves in his room, he reminded me of some of the great clowns; like a young Jerry Lewis, and even the precursory shadings of the great ones like Jackie Gleason in GIGOT, or Jacques Tati. Heder is Napoleon Dynamite, a prince of Preston, a nerdish Conan out to slay demons, or maybe just to get laid. The setting for the film seems to be the early 1990's. Napoleon, and his older brother, Kip, live with their grandmother, played by Sandy Martin, who does a great turn as a biker grandma, who still dates, eats entirely too much steak, and loves her llama. Aaron Ruell, as the brother Kip, a 32 year old who has been a nerd for so long he is oblivious to it, does a fine job with the role. He lives in front of his computer, logging countless hours in chat rooms, searching for cyber-love, running up huge internet bills. Tina Mjorino, as girlfriend Deb, was wonderfully wacky, off-center, and loveable. A former child star, from films like WATERWORLD, she is 19 years old now, and she is good enough to be slugging it out with the likes of Thora Birch, Jena Malone, and Christina Ricci for those Odd Girl parts. She found the sweet quirkiness and heartfelt honesty of her character. Jon Gries, an actor since 1968, son of famed film director Tom Gries, was very good as the arrogant deluded ignorant Uncle Ricco; a man stuck in the past, reliving a fake fantasy that when he played high school football he might have been a great star, even turned pro...if his stupid coach had not left him on the bench so much. Efrem Ramirez, as Napoleon's best friend, Pedro, is a veteran actor from 10 films. His baby face, and deadpan delivery served him well. He did an excellent job. When he decided to run for class president, against a popular cheerleader, the tempo begins to shift, and we begin to see that this sad and funny drama was going to bend into a kind of fantasy tale; with underdogs rising to the occasion, taking on overwhelming odds, and of course, emerging victorious.In smaller roles we first find Diedrich Baker as the karate teacher Rex, and he is the most seasoned veteran of the cast, having appeared in 33 films. He had a lot of fun with this part, prancing around in his American flag "bad-boy" pants, and pushing around the local kids while taking their money. Then there is Shondrella Avery appearing as Kip's cyberlove La Fawnduh. She is one hot mama, and she seems to like short skinny white dudes. When Kip boards the bus with her, bandana on his head, glasses in his pocket, suitcases in his hands, leaving home for the first time, we realize the film has come full circle, and now is a fairy tale. I had approached this film skeptically not being sure how I would react or relate to it...but it won me over. It was not just another dumb comedy that would disintegrate two points off my intelligence quotient just by sitting through it. Rather, it was a fine little film, large on ambition, that I came to care about. I recommend it highly.