Un teenager decide di aiutare un nuovo amico a vincere il titolo di presidente della classe nel liceo della piccola citta in cui vive, cercando nel frattempo di gestire i rapporti con la sua... Leggi tuttoUn teenager decide di aiutare un nuovo amico a vincere il titolo di presidente della classe nel liceo della piccola citta in cui vive, cercando nel frattempo di gestire i rapporti con la sua bizzarra famiglia.Un teenager decide di aiutare un nuovo amico a vincere il titolo di presidente della classe nel liceo della piccola citta in cui vive, cercando nel frattempo di gestire i rapporti con la sua bizzarra famiglia.
- Regia
- Sceneggiatura
- Star
- Premi
- 10 vittorie e 23 candidature totali
- Jock #2
- (as James Smooth)
- Principal Svadean
- (as Tom Lefler)
Recensioni in evidenza
I constantly found myself saying, "This all seems too strangely familiar. I knew a guy like that. I've done stuff like that. I've been to a store like that. I've been in a house like that." This isn't the kind of movie to make you suddenly laugh out loud, it's a movie that will first make you chuckle, and then chuckle some more, and pretty soon you can't stop laughing as scenes and characters continuously remind you about the absurdity of watching random, stupid pointlessness. Why would something boring be interesting to watch? You'll just have to see it to understand.
This ain't art cinema, folks. It's absurdist comedy. Don't go to see this film looking for deep meaning or well-constructed plot--the vague semblance of a plot is as artificial as they come, and seems inserted mostly to give the film structure and to permit the audience a somewhat 'happy' ending.
NO, Napoleon Dynamite isn't about changing the world--it's live action 'South Park' (Preston, Idaho, where the film is set, actually bears a strong resemblance to the real South Park, Colorado). It's a highly ironic, self-mocking, merciless run of sight gags and one liners with no apparent purpose other than to get laughs at the expense of its main characters, especially the eponymous Napoleon, a fit stand-in for everyone who's ever felt like a socially inept outcast trapped in the hell of high school.
This movie isn't for everybody, but if you don't see glimpses of your own childhood in the various awkwardnesses and failures of the main characters, you're in denial. Don't see Napoleon Dynamite if you're expecting sensitivity--go see it if you're pissed off at the world and just need to laugh. I saw it for the first time last night, and I'm still busting into spontaneous laughter whenever one of Napoleon's silly one-liners or blank-faced dead-pan non-sequitirs comes to mind.
Napoleon and his older brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) live with their grandmother, but at the beginning of the film she tells them she needs to take off for a couple days. Enter their Uncle Rico (Jon Gries), a self-starter who's living in 1982 (when the coach of his high school football team declined to put him in as quarterback, thus altering Rico's life forever). Some of the funniest scenes in the film involve Napoleon's often-combative relationship with Uncle Rico; Rico is also bound and determined to return to those halcyon days of his youth via a time machine he's seen advertised on the Internet, and he enlists Kip to help him raise the funds.
Napoleon befriends the new kid in school, Pedro (Efren Ramirez), who has a sweet bike, can talk to girls, and has an actual mustache. But like Napoleon, Pedro is a misfit. Both sometimes hang out with yet another taciturn student, Deb (Tina Majorino, all grown up from Waterworld), who secretly (it seems) likes Napoleon. But there isn't a lot of focus on their relationship, because Napoleon himself is fairly oblivious to how people perceive him. This isn't a story about young love or lust, it's a story about a misfit refusing to fit - while fitting in with others like him.
Jon Heder is perfectly cast as the gawky, dorky Napoleon; he resembles Butt-Head in countenance, although certainly not in temperament or intelligence. Mouth agape and with an awkward gait, Napoleon is about as odd a duck as you'd find in high school, and yet he still manages to survive with his dignity intact. He's a good egg, although he seems to overreact at times: "What are you gonna do today, Napoleon? Napoleon: Whatever I feel like I wanna do.....GOSH!" Still, his delivery is perfect. You can readily picture a Napoleon in any high school.
I think where the film ultimately succeeds, aside from the casting of Heder, is that it doesn't fall into the traps of predictability and stereotyping. Sure, it's a high school movie, and there are snobby pretty girls and arrogant jocks, but not much time is devoted to them. Sure, there's a big dance, but it doesn't necessarily turn out the way you'd expect it to. What you're left with, then, isn't a typical coming-of-age story, but rather a unique take on a rather mundane - albeit life-altering - time in a boy's life.
What I did like about Napoleon Dynamite was that it was unique, funny, quirky and original. Where it is not quite so good is in the episodic story structure and some of the supporting characters particularly comic-book-geek older brother and the ageing jock uncle were disappointingly one-dimensional and could have been further explored in terms of depth.
Napoleon Dynamite does have a refreshingly distinctive time-warp look that recalls the style-challenged 1980s though, and that was refreshing in itself. The soundtrack is nice and nostalgic, and there are some genuinely laugh-out-loud funny moments. Also the ending is suitably uplifting and the limited horizons of young people in small-town America is nicely conveyed. The script is good and the direction is pretty solid.
As are the performances. Jon Heder is delightfully eccentric in the title role, and he is really entertaining throughout, whether it is in the voice, the facial expressions or his character's actions. Napoleon is a blank-faced teen with carrot-coloured hair and seriously underdeveloped interpersonal skills, and here he tries to help his nerd of a best friend Pedro, amusingly played by Efren Ramirez. In terms of other supporting performances, Aaron Ruell also does a good job as Kip and while his role wasn't as well-sketched as it could have been, Jonathan Gries does nicely as Uncle Rico.
Overall, not perfect, but amusing, quirky and unique. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Lo sapevi?
- BlooperWhen Napoleon is waiting in the van for Uncle Rico to take him to the dance, he looks at his watch. The time and date displayed is 5:40 p.m., Thursday 7/17. (They may have forgotten to change the date on the watch -- how many school dances are in July?) After he starts running down the road, he stops to look at his watch and the time and date says 5:54 p.m., Monday, 7/21.
- Citazioni
Don: Hey, Napoleon. What did you do last summer again?
Napoleon Dynamite: I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!
Don: Did you shoot any?
Napoleon Dynamite: Yes, like 50 of 'em! They kept trying to attack my cousins, what the heck would you do in a situation like that?
Don: What kind of gun did you use?
Napoleon Dynamite: A freakin' 12-gauge, what do you think?
- Curiosità sui creditiThere is a 5 minute scene with Kip and LaFawnduh's wedding after the end credits.
- Versioni alternativeIn the streaming prints of the movie on Hulu & Disney+, the line "You guys are retarded!" is replaced by "You guys are idiots!".
- Colonne sonoreWe're Going to be Friends
Written by Jack White
Performed by The White Stripes
Courtesy of Third Man Records/V2 Records/XL Recordings
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Dettagli
Botteghino
- Budget
- 400.000 USD (previsto)
- Lordo Stati Uniti e Canada
- 44.540.956 USD
- Fine settimana di apertura Stati Uniti e Canada
- 116.666 USD
- 13 giu 2004
- Lordo in tutto il mondo
- 46.140.989 USD
- Tempo di esecuzione1 ora 36 minuti
- Colore
- Mix di suoni
- Proporzioni
- 1.85 : 1