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I was surprised to not see a topic posted about this movie -- sleeper hit of the year!
Has anyone here seen it?
My family has seen it twice. It is a quirky little movie, set in Preston, Idaho in the late 80's. We love quirk in our family - similar to "Local Hero" and "Northern Exposure", and the other sleeper hit, "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding".
Roger Ebert gave this movie a scathing review, while it is selling out in the theaters. The majority of the cast and producton are LDS, although it isn't mentioned in the movie. In fact, the first time we saw it, there is an icon stating that it is an MTV production, which made me squirm, wondering what I was about to see. The movie is rated PG!!
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My husband and I saw it last weekend and we are going to take the kids this weekend. They've been on vacation in Idaho (of all places) and we think they're going to love it.
They didn't go for the cheap laughs. The gags stopped just short of being too over the top. It is simply a great movie.
I'm suprised OSC hasn't reviewed it yet. I would love to read what he has to say about it.
I was reading some of the reviews online and most are very positive. The ones that are negative just didn't get it. There was one woman who I don't think saw the same movie. She also stated that it was PG-13 because of language and adult situations. WHAT? Then, she was complaining that it had elements of racism in it. HUH?
The acting was brilliant. Some critical critics said the acting was terrible especially Uncle Rico. Then one critic said he hated Uncle Rico. Well, doesn't that mean that the actor did a GOOD job at portraying that character?
I can't wait to see it again this weekend. Unfortunately I have to drive an hour to Houston to see it. But, it's worth it!
Posts: 20 | Registered: Apr 2002
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PG-13?? It is rated PG in California. WHAT language! He said 'Freakin'" (which, ok, I hate to hear my grown kids say) and "Flip".
You know, I think you have to be LDS or live in Utah or Idaho (or what Scott calls the "Mormon belt") to understand why that movie is so funny.
Could the reviewer who said that there was racism in there have been offended by Pedro and his family members ?! She probably doesn't live any where near East L.A. or East San Jose!!
Isn't it worth the drive?? : )
Posts: 93 | Registered: Oct 2000
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I don't know. I seriously think she was doing something else while in the movie. Here's her review.
I hear the movie is selling out in Manhatten and I have heard many non-members rave about it. I live in S. Texas and I got the humor with Pedro and his family.
The other thing that made it hit home for me is that I recently visited Idaho for the first time and spent some time at a delightful family's house. The house has not been redecorated since about 1976. Napoleon Dynamite is set in 2004, but small town Idaho hasn't quite caught up with the rest of the country yet.
Yeah, Ebert gave a scathing review of the movie, but there are many other postive reviews. Read Rotten Tomatoes.
Still looking forward to Saturday when I can see it again. Posts: 20 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I read the review -- thanks for the link. She's a liberal from Palo Alto! The dead giveaway is her disdain for red meat-eaters, and she cites racism and then makes a statement about "Pedro, who claws his way up from social pond scum". She can't decide which side of her face to speak out of.
From the website, the movie is rated PG, which she got wrong, and Haylie is Hilary's OLDER sister, not younger. I think the reviewer must have been having her nails done in the theater while she watched the movie.
Oh well, Jared Hess is laughing all the way to the bank, isn't he??
Love the website!! Did you know that Jon Heder is a twin? They asked him in an interview if his brother did the bike stunts!
Have a good one!!
Posts: 93 | Registered: Oct 2000
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I tried to see it this weekend. We laughed at the credits. Then we laughed uncomfortably at some of the gags. After about twenty minutes, we left and the theater people let us go see Spiderman instead. The humor all seemed to be about total social losers in painfully humiliating situations. Did we miss something? Is it funnier if it's late at night? Was there a plot? Posts: 4767 | Registered: Jun 2004
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You have to see the whole movie to get it. Things start making sense about 3/4 of the way into the movie. The first time I saw, I sat in the theater wondering what I was watching. My family loves the movie -- it appealed to all of us, my husband and I are in our late 40's, kids in early 20's and a deacon. We saw it both times during the day, so I don't know about it being funnier late at night.
There is a plot -- but you have to stay for the whole movie to get it.
It's quirky -- if you read my first post. You gotta enjoy quirk to understand where the movie is going.
I hope you give it a second chance.
p.s Jared Hess plays the Justice of the Peace in "Pride and Prejudice"!
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I think you just have to be on the same frequency as the humor to enjoy it. It's not a very broad-based sort of humor that everyone gets. My wife and I LOVED it, but we've met people that didn't. [shrug] I don't think it means either side has bad taste. Just different taste.
Half the reason it was funny to me may have been the fact that I went to college with Napoleon (Jon Heder). He taught me how to paint my dorm walls with liquid Tide under a blacklight.
Posts: 806 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Looking forward to seeing it (hasn't come out in London yet). I don't remember Jon Heder very well, but I went to Scout camp with his older brother and was on a seminary council with his older sister.
Posts: 225 | Registered: Jun 2004
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What exactly does painting your walls with liquid Tide do?
Do they glow in the dark?
Do they shine in blacklight?
Inquiring minds want to know!
(Oh, and I'm excited to see Napoleon Dynamite too - I just can't seem to get a babysitter on a night that we can go and fit it all the other things like family reunions, temple, etc. etc.)
Posts: 1445 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I must not be into quirk. I'm LDS, lived in Idaho and in Utah - but still didn't get it. IMHO, it wasn't worth the cost of the tickets nor would I rent it.
Posts: 5049 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Dave — liquid Tide glows blue under UV light. You can paint your white cinderblock dorm walls with it for nighttime enjoyment, and the RA's will have no idea when they check it with the blacklight off.
Posts: 806 | Registered: Feb 2000
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OK - so I finally went to see it last weekend.
I can describe the experience as "painful in a good way."
Napoleon is like so many kids I knew in High School. It's such a socially inappropriate time of life. And it's not just Napoleon and his friends that are socially inappropriate - it's the other kids who have "skills" as well.
The website was classic. It reminded me of all the painfully funny parts of the movie.
If you're looking for high brow humor, this isn't your show.
Even still, it made me think about my own behavior much more than most movies.
****SPOILERS!!****
The only part of the show that I really didn't think worked was Pedro winning the election. That would never happen. Never.
Posts: 1445 | Registered: Sep 1999
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You know, I wrote an email to that woman who did that review I linked. I asked her if she acutally saw the movie and she wrote me back. That's to her credit. What boggles my mind is that she said she saw it twice. If you see a movie twice and still get so many facts about it wrong, what does that say about you?
I think you do have to just like that kind of humor to get it. It's actually more complicated than it appears. I'd pay to go see it again just to see Napoleon dance! Posts: 20 | Registered: Apr 2002
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The guy who wrote this movie is the brother of someone in my stake-- he's LDS, (though not active) which explains why it's so clean. And you don't have to be LDS to find it funny; an 18-year-old guy my husband works with found it so hilarious he saw it multiple times. I think it just requires a well-developed sense of the ludicrous, and a clear and painful memory of high school. Posts: 8148 | Registered: Aug 2004
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hmmm, Jared isn't active? He attended the Y, which doesn't mean he is active now... too bad. Jon Heder has been on Craig Kilborn and was on Jimmy Kimmel with his twin. It is so freaky to see him dressed like a normal person.
I can't believe that the reviewer saw it twice!! Did she sleep her way through it?! I wrote my reply to the Editor, who replied to me. She said that *she* saw it and really liked it. The thing that bugs me about Jeanne's review is that she starts out saying that it is a mean-spirited movie, and then proceeds to be totally mean-spirited in the way she wrote the review! I think she is just a confused individual.
Have you heard that so far the movie has grossed 12 million?? We listened to KSL today to hear Scott's latest on "Ender's Game, the movie", and they were talking about Napoleon. They made the movie on a $400,000 budget and is playing at 56 screens across the country and so to gross 12 million is phenominal. The guys at KSL have seen the movie three times so far and keep going back to take new friends. Napoleon is still climbing the charts, too every week.
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No one has said anything about the wedding scene at the end of the credits. If you go to see it, stay for the credits. The "brother" of the bride is a hoot. And Napoleon on a horse: "I tamed this wild honeymoon stallion for you..."
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I saw this last weekend and about died laughing. Especially about the last 1/3 of the movie. The scene at the end of the credits was great! "Hey, Deb, can you take a picture of me on the horse real quick?".
Having grown up in small-town Idaho it was even funnier. I did feel some twinges of guilt for laughing at those people so much, because I knew people very much like them in junior high and high school.
I think this is going to have a cult following, like Monty Python and UHF. I can't wait to see it again.
Posts: 4327 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I have to admit that I didn't believe for ONE MINUTE that movie grossed 12 million dollars, so I went to The Numbers.com and dadsdotter is right on. The movie had a budget of $400,000 and to date has grossed 15 million dollars! It's only been in theaters for 66 days! That puts is way ahead of THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN which only grossed about 4 million dollars in US theaters.
Posts: 1378 | Registered: Sep 2000
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Actually, I think that since last post, it has grossed 15 milliion now and is being shown in more theaters.
Went back to school shopping with my son yesterday and went to see "Napoleon" for a third time for both of us. We saw the extra at the end, and I belly-laughed through the whole thing. My son was embarrassed. He's 12. I told him it was dark and there weren't any member of our ward there.
We'll be going back again as long as it's in the theaters. Each time, I see something more that I didn't catch the last time. It's a family favortie.
Oh -- for dress-down Fridays, my son got a Vote for Pedro t-shirt made at our local t-shirt company. It's his favorite back to school item, even more than his "Chick Magnet" t-shirt. ; )
Posts: 93 | Registered: Oct 2000
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I don't know about you, but whenever I see a political ad these days, all I can think is someone saying, "Vote for me and all your wildest dreams will come true."
Posts: 1445 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Here it is, the beginning of Oct. I saw the movie the second or third week it was here (beginning of Aug) and it is STILL playing here. My 16 yr old son saw it last week and thought it was the funniest movie. It's got to be an experience thing... It has now grossed $37,614,092.
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Distribution is the key. Excel is distributing Saints and Soldiers, not Fox Searchlight like Napoleon Dynamite. I was hoping Saints and Soldiers would be picked up by a bigger distributer.
Posts: 5576 | Registered: Sep 2001
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This is the way they will finally get BYU students to vote for BYUSA president -- have somebody named Pedro run.
<-- never ever voted for BYUSA president because he never cared nor believed it mattered, except for the president
Posts: 35 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Well, Napoleon Dynamite came out on video two days ago - there is not a single copy to be found now in Cache Valley (home of Preston, Idaho).
Posts: 339 | Registered: Dec 2004
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It has now grossed $44,140,989 in the US. World-wide, about 100,000 thousand more. It was still playing here a couple of weeks ago. I think that is pretty amazing. Not a bad return for a $400,000 investment.
Posts: 5049 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Ah weeds - it's a funny little movie! You just have to put on your quirky sense of humor hat when you watch it . I actually have a copy of it, that I've had for a few weeks (screener's copy)....we've had several requests to borrow it since no one can buy one here now.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I'll admit, we rented it and the only one who thought it was funny was our 14 year old son. we tried several times to watch it, but just couldn't get into the movie like he did.
Posts: 131 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Napoleon Dynamite is mostly about friendship (in my mind). The song over the closing credits pretty much sums it up for me. You DO need a quirky sense of humor...like a Seinfeld fan Posts: 339 | Registered: Dec 2004
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And you don't have to be LDS to find it funny; an 18-year-old guy my husband works with found it so hilarious he saw it multiple times. I think it just requires a well-developed sense of the ludicrous, and a clear and painful memory of high school. ![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
. I actually have a copy of it, that I've had for a few weeks (screener's copy)....we've had several requests to borrow it since no one can buy one here now.
