With only a few weeks remaining until prom in Preston, Idaho, many guys scheme about how to ask their crushes to the dance.
Dozens of roses and boxes of chocolates with lovey-dovey notes flood their minds. But, for Napoleon Dynamite, these formula approaches are far too common. He decides to take an entirely new approach, wooing his damsel by drawing a portrait of her.
Hoping for her approval, he says, “It took me, like, three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip.” She grudgingly accepts his offer.
In the summer movie, Napoleon Dynamite, now playing in select theatres across the country, the tale of this romantic Casanova is told.
Students on campus rave about this film.
“Yes, I’ve seen it!” Brianne Raymer, ’06, said. “It was awesome! It was amazing! The humor in it is completely clean, yet all kinds of people love it; that’s really cool.”
Others agree with Raymer’s opinion of the movie’s humor.
“Napoleon Dynamite is a great movie!” Corey Maxey, ’06, said. “It has tons of hilarious dialogue!”
Enthusiasm for the film is shared across the country, as ticket sales have exceeded 33 million, ranking the movie at No. 10 on box office charts for the weekend of Sept. 17-19, according to http://movies.yahoo.com/boxoffice/latest/rank.html.
Jared Hess, author and director of Napoleon Dynamite, gave insight to one reason why this film has achieved success, as stated on http://www.foxsearchlight.com/filmmakers/hess/.
“…I wanted to tell the story of the awkward kid that sat next to you in math, who you never spoke to…”
The movie chronicles day-to-day life for Napoleon, “the awkward kid”, played by actor Jon Heder. It highlights the adventures he experiences in his high school life, as well as in his home life.
With the movie’s taking place in Hess’ hometown, locals strongly influenced the production.
“…The community played a huge role during our 22 days of production. We knew that we were doing something right when our high school extras began quoting lines from the movie to each other between takes.”
Contrary to the majority opinion, some students on campus found the movie irritating.
“Napoleon Dynamite was OK, but I found Napoleon’s monotone voice to be annoying,” Johanna Iest, ’05, said. “The movie was hyped up so much by people that I think my expectations were too high.”
Some disagree with Iest’s opinion of Napoleon.
“I found Napoleon to be a loveable main character,” Maxey said. “My heart went out to him because he was like any other outcast you find in high schools.”
Raymer encourages others to see Napoleon Dynamite for themselves.
“I would recommend it to everyone…most comedies have a few quotable, funny lines, but you can repeat anything from Napoleon Dynamite and laugh; it’s just nonstop funny.
Other students promote this movie to those looking for simple pleasure.
“It’s the greatest movie ever! I’ve seen it three times,” Jessica Berg, ’07, said. “It really has no plot, but it’s so hilarious!”
For more information on Napoleon Dynamite and local movie listings visit these web sites:
www2.foxsearchlight.com/napoleondynamite/epk/index.php, www.fandango.com,
http://movies.yahoo.com/boxoffice/latest/rank.html and www.foxsearchlight.com/filmmakers/hess/ .
” “www.foxsearchlight.com” “Despite Napoleon Dynamite’s silly antics, teens seem to appreciate its humor.” “” “” “Yahoo! Movies-Box Office and Buzz-rankings
