Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)Napoleon Dynamite” had a catchy title and a good 7.1 rating at IMDB, so I watched it while it was at hand.

Directed by: Jared Hess
Genres: Comedy
Cast: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Diedrich Bader, Tina Majorino, Sandy Martin, Haylie Duff, Trevor Snarr, Shondrella Avery, Bracken Johnson, Carmen Brady, Ellen Dubin, J.C. Cunningham, James Smooth
IMDB raintg: 7.1
My rating: 7.0 [rate 7.0]

My first reaction was – a very weird movie. It swings from real bad to real good so many times that I lost track counting. It is also a very slowly paced and non-dramatic movie, which makes it difficult to watch at first. I couldn’t decide if I like it or not. There were many times when I wanted to stop it, but, on the other hand, there were many moments that won my undevided attention.

Finally, I liked it. It is an original film. It uses stamps and stereotypes in a non-cliche way. It also has this nice background-kind of fun to it. I don’t know. It’s hard to describe. It feels like a black humor comedy without black humor. Or something like that.

On the technical side, I en joyed the camera work and photography. Opening titles were one of the best I’ve ever seen too. I am not that sure about acting as I am still trying to comprehend the film, but I can find both the weak and strong points.

Resume: If you are in the mood for something original and unexpected, it is really hard to find anything more appropriate than this film. At least from American cinematography.

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