This is topic Napoleon Dynamite in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 07-11-2004, 10:07 PM:
 
Saw it at Lefont Parkside(formerly Madstone). Good print. Clear sound. I am surprised this movie was even made in regular 35MM for such a low rent production with small ideas.

Watchable fun movie, but full of indie and some sitcom cliches. Take a family of freaky looking people, have them act awkwardly, and anyone can make a watchable movie. Overall, I felt it is overrated and the writing was kind of mediocre. Relied too much on overused sight gags of ugly people. Welcome to the Dollhouse and Rushmore have done similar subjects much better.

And the cheerleader dance after the candidates speeches paled in impact when you compared it to the sparkles dance to the Duran Duran song in Donnie Darko.

Definitely a video type rental unless you get to watch it for free in the theater or have never watched a good indie in your life. Sundance audiences seem to judge movies worse than the masses at times.
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 07-11-2004, 10:18 PM:
 
This movie is fun on its own, but great if you watch it with a crowd. I saw it with about 250 others in the audience, and there wasn't a quiet moment. What amazed me was how entertaining it could be with such a small plot. All in all, this is more of a character study than anything else. But it delivered.

It has one or two inside jokes for LDS people and idaho-ans. (Anyone else notice the Rick's College t-shirt?)
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-12-2004, 12:32 PM:
 
Agreed. It was a minor disappointment. Not terrible, but it could have been so much better. I recommend "Welcome to the Dollhouse" instead.
 

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Posted by Nicole Halper (Member # 2299) on 07-19-2004, 03:40 PM:
 
I just saw it after everyone at work saying how great it was~ It was funny- but I think more in a personal sense- Yes- haha- I did closely relate. Well not in the whole Napoleon sense but~

*possible spoilers*

So Pedro running for president...yeah...so I did that this year~and apparently if I only had 2 big brute cousins with a really nice paint job on their car- and gimp key chains, I would have won~ Honestly Pedro should have lost, because that is what would have happened in the real world (but it is a movie after all). Oh and Summer's boyfriend would have run, and not her. I guess the whole situation to me was just hysterical, because that is really what it feels like! Oh and lesson learned: A website is a cool campaign idea- but not necessarily a winning idea~

And I shall leave you with just one inconsistancy. When Napoleon is telling his Uncle to leave or he'll call the cops-(while he is recording himself on the front lawn) Napoleon closes the door when he comes out- then the next flash of him it's open- and the next flash it's closed again.
 

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Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 07-22-2004, 11:45 AM:
 
This movie was cool. Even though the plot was so thin, it held my attention since i was in a theatre. As far as renting the video to watch at home, I don't know if I could stay awake. I also saw it in a large audience and everybody was laughing like crazy. I almost wet myself when that bully kept pushing that kids head to the floor for lunch money.

His behavior is hystarical. I just kept comparing Napoleon did to what i remember those other goofy kids in high school were like. It really was great.
 

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Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 07-23-2004, 04:03 AM:
 
I am in tears... This movie is so bad its exquisit!!! 4/5

Josh
 

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Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 07-23-2004, 09:51 PM:
 
Attendance: 2004/07/23 19:10, Regal Madison Square 12, Huntsville, AL, Auditorium 3, Flat

Going into this movie, I knew nothing except what I saw in the preview that I saw before the movie Saved. I found the movie quite bizarre and funny. The auditorium was about two-thirds full and the audience was mostly teenagers with very few people outside the teen age group. I was probably the oldest person in there, by far. I could tell by the reactions that the teenagers enjoyed this movie tremendously, and these teenagers were well-behaved too.

After I saw the movie, I read some reviews online, just to see what kind of reviews this movie was getting. It seems that people either love this thing or hate it. Some reviewers like it and give it rather high marks, while other reviewers give it abysmal reviews (like half a star or one star out of four).

I was one of the people who liked it. Someone commented that it's more fun with a group, which I agree. If I'd gone to see this without a decent-sized crowd of people reacting to things, my enjoyment would have been diminished significantly.

In a way, I can identify with the misfit geek type of characters in movies like these, since I've always been a misfit to a large degree and never "fit in" in high school. I wasn't as far out as Napoleon, but I was out there a bit.

I stayed for the footage at the end. It came after the rating instead of after the credits. By the time that rolled around, there were less than 10 people left in the theatre and without a crowd to react to it, this footage didn't seem funny to me. It makes me wonder if the whole movie would have seemed that way in that situation.

The presentation was pretty good except for the picture being misaligned about a foot to the left, either because of the projector aim being off or because of the aperture plate not being positioned correctly. The jagged right edge lacked about a foot reaching the right edge of the screen and the left edge went beyond the black masking on the left onto the blue drapes. It looked quite ugly, and it's been that way on my last 3 visits in that particular auditorium.
 

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Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 07-26-2004, 09:33 AM:
 
Best Movie EVER MADE!!! There is no more that I can say.
 

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Posted by Cory Isemann (Member # 2517) on 07-26-2004, 02:27 PM:
 
I agree totally! I mean, it wasn't hilarious, but it was still really great.
 

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Posted by Robert L. Fischer (Member # 2424) on 07-29-2004, 04:41 AM:
 
I saw this with a late-night crowd of about 60 or 70 people and they really seemed to love it. Personally, I think it could've been a lot funnier, but the paper-thin plot doesn't bother me at all. Napoleon's character is funny enough to carry most of the movie, and considering that the movie is rated PG, it is remarkably funny. The thing that I will take from this movie is being able to do great Napoleon impressions for weeks to come around my co-workers.

Interesting to note -- the majority of the audience erupted into applause as the lights came up. The only movie in recent history I can recall garnering such a response was Fahrenheit 9/11, and even that was limited to approximately 1/4 of the audience.
 

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Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 07-30-2004, 03:09 AM:
 
This movie is so awesome! The guy next to me couldn't stop laughing through the whole freakin' movie. I think that was the only thing ruining it... "The guy next to me"
 

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Posted by Kristin Wahlund (Member # 922) on 08-01-2004, 01:02 AM:
 
I just saw this movie tonight and I have to agree.. it was fun in its own way. The staff I spoke to seemed to really enjoy it and quoted several parts/sayings.

BUT Welcome to the Dollhouse is one of my favorite movies of all time...

People are making a bigger deal out of this movie than they possibly should, if they liked this movie they should all watch Welcome to the Dollhouse. Its better.

end of story.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-04-2004, 04:20 AM:
 
I have to agree with Kristen that people are making a little bit too big of a deal out of this movie. It's entertaining and the actor who played Napoleon really has the character down, but the whole movie was choppy. Still this movie is almost a campaign for "don't go to Idaho!!!"

With all the crap out there this year, I think people are starting to rate movies on a curve. It's similar to if everyone in a high school classroom did poorly on a test, so the teacher automatically raises everyone's score 20 points. Is that what is happening to movie reviews this year? Let's face it, 2004 is the worst year for movies ever. I could count the good movies released so far this year on one hand.

Decent film overall and definitely one of the better shows out there right now, but like I said, that's not saying too much.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 08-18-2004, 01:22 PM:
 
Hilarious!!
 

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Posted by Jason M Miller (Member # 2597) on 08-22-2004, 12:44 AM:
 
This movie is flippen hilarious.

quote:

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Best Movie EVER MADE!!! There is no more that I can say. --Ethan Harper

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Ethan, like anyone can even know that.
 

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Posted by Stephanie M. Brosche (Member # 1982) on 09-04-2004, 12:56 AM:
 
"Vote for Pedro!"
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-11-2004, 01:37 PM:
 
After seeing all these comments and hearing raves from others, we decided to see this while on vacation this past weekend.

I just didn't get it. I mean, it had a few funny scenes, but "the best movie ever made" and "freakin' hilarious?" No. We were in a small crowd -- might have had something to do with it. Only about 15 people in the theatre overall.

(The theatre itself was no prize either.)
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 09-11-2004, 02:11 PM:
 
Napoleon Dynamite rated NA-27.

NA-27 = No Adults over the age of 27 need to see this film.
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 09-11-2004, 02:17 PM:
 
One of the things that makes it so funny is when you watch it your are constantly thinking to yourself, "Yeah, I knew this guy in high school."

Sorry to say its probably a generation gap thing. I've stood in the back of the auditorium with high schoolers and college kids watching it and they couldn't stop laughing. Middle agers and elderly we've had a few walk outs.
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 09-11-2004, 11:20 PM:
 
Well I am one of the 30 somethings here. I liked it, but I think we have already seen similar stuff in Welcome to the Dollhouse and to a smaller extent in Donnie Darko. So this movie doesn't seem as fresh. It is still fun. I guess it's like every new generation needs it's movie.
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 09-12-2004, 03:33 AM:
 
I saw this tonight without knowing anything about it, except that Ethan liked it.

This movie made me laugh-out-loud a number of times.

I disagree with the idea of saving this one for video -- it's probably better to see it in a theatre with a deccent-size crowd.
 

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Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 09-14-2004, 08:11 AM:
 
I’m conflicted about this movie. It looks like it was done by an amateur, but this amateur must be a genius. I could see how I might be bored silly, but I found myself laughing more often, and harder, than in most comedies I see.

This is truly an audience participation type picture. You get enthused by what other people think is funny.

I hope this has a sequel that’s NOT done in Hollywood.
 

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 09-15-2004, 11:56 AM:
 
c'mon people Napoleon Dynamite was Freakin' Awesome...GOSH
 

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Posted by Greg Davis (Member # 2687) on 09-15-2004, 04:45 PM:
 
When I saw it I was more stunned than anything else. Its like everything that isn't supposed to be in movies in 2004 (ugly people, bizarre and boring location, 20 year old fashions, character developement) was all in one movie! The character of uncle Rico was great, the only beef I have is that Debb was too dynamic. Pedro and Dynamite stayed pretty much linear and that kept the movie going good. a good thinking movie.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-17-2004, 07:08 PM:
 

quote: Dustin Mitchell

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One of the things that makes it so funny is when you watch it your are constantly thinking to yourself, "Yeah, I knew this guy in high school."

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