Napoleon Dynamite is one of my favorite comedies of all time. No matter how many times I watch it, it will never not be funny. I’ve seen it so many times, and it still makes me laugh out loud at numerous parts throughout the movie, even though I know exactly what’s coming up. Maybe I’m just a movie nerd. Or maybe it’s a really good movie. But you’ll never know unless you see it, will you?
The great thing about Napoleon Dynamite is that it started as a short film for a school project. As so many great things tend to do. (Here’s looking at you, South Park…) And then they took the idea and found some investors and were like “hey, this would make a great movie!” Lo and behold, it ended up being just that. Not only is Napoleon Dynamite now a cult classic, it’s an almost iconic comedy movie for fans of the genre.
And you don’t realize it when you’re watching it, because it’s so uncommon, but the movie is rated PG. There’s no swearing, or sexual innuendos or anything like that. But you’re so engrossed in the comedy of it all, that you don’t even notice it. You don’t even think about how family friendly this movie really is. Which is pretty ironic when you think about it. Considering how unfriendly the world is to Napoleon…
With the exception of Deidrich Bader, everybody in this movie was an unknown actor. And most of the people were actually friends and classmates of the writer and director of the movie, Jared Hess. Because the budget for the film was so low, a paltry $400,000, they had to do everything they could to save money. Shooting around the rural town in Idaho was one thing. And some of the folks around the town actually provided housing and food for the actors for the month that they were shooting the movie.
But it just goes to show you that you never know when an independent film is going to take off. Always remember that producers wanted to give George Lucas as little money as possible to finance the original Star Wars movie because they never thought it was going to be popular. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. So, yeah. Go and see Napoleon Dynamite. If you’re not laughing constantly, you need a better sense of humor. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…
Leave a comment