NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE
Released: January 17, 2004
Wes Anderson ("Rushmore") makes personal movies about his life experiences and makes them interesting to many people. So to does Jared Hess, only he does films for his home state of Idaho. Preston, Idaho's most curious resident, Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder), lives with his grandma and his 31-year-old brother (who cruises chat rooms for chicks) and works to help his best friend, Pedro (Efren Ramirez), snatch the Student Body President title from mean teen Summer Wheatley (Haylie Duff, Hilary's older sister). It's dead pan style of cinematography and delivery of its acting is the charm of "Napolean Dynamite", one of the most unusual and original films of 2004 so far. Napolean has a pet Llama, draws pictures of "ligers" (a combination of lions and tigers), a Mexican school buddy who tries to steal his girlfriend and the frizziest blonde afro you've ever seen. While not for everyone, those who do give it a shot are in for a treat. The theatre was packed and everyone was laughing loudly throughout the entire duration. While I can understand why Fox needed financial help from Paramount to complete "Titanic", I find it amusing Fox teamed up with Paramount on this very small film as well. The most oddball film you'll see from two allied powerhouse Hollywood studios.
86 Minutes
Fox Searchlight/20th Century Fox/Paramount