In 1984 and for several sequels over the next decade, they got their revenge, but nerds are, well, otherwise presented as nerds when they appear in most movies. Rarely are they shown in a positive light and they almost never get to be the main characters.
The latter is changed in "Napoleon Dynamite." Yet, I'm still not sure how we're supposed to respond to the title character and his nerdiness, um, nerddom, uh, behavior that will either have you rolling in the aisles or making you check your watch enough times that you'll become known as the clock keeper.
Less a movie than a series of loosely connected vignettes, the picture has been drawing raves from certain film festivals and teen to twenty-something viewers, but I have no idea why. Either it's a generational thing or they saw a completely different movie than I did, as I found little on display to admire.
With almost no plot to speak of and featuring a bunch of one-note nerd characters, the film is fitfully amusing at first. Yet, its dearth of story or character development means it gets redundant mighty quickly. Essentially, it comes off like a sketch show skit where the humor is supposed to stem from the popular or familiar character's exaggerated reactions to any number of irritating developments.
Here, that would be actor Jon Heder's portrayal of the title character as a mouth breather whose eyes are perpetually half-closed (giving him that dim and/or dazed look) and who responds to daily irritants with curt outbursts. While newcomer Heder ably and believably plays the character, methinks it and the overall film would have been far better or at least more tolerable in two to three minute increments rather than as a full-length effort.
Of course, what writer/director Jared Hess (making his feature debut) has essentially done is string together a bunch of those small moments, but without any real connective story or throughput. The closest we get to that is the title character trying to help his new friend -- played by Efren Ramirez ("Delivering Milo," "The Race") -- win the class presidency, but even that's bare bones at best.
Otherwise, the film is comprised of various vignettes showcasing the title character's "nerdiness" and/or dealing with the other nerds in his life (this is more like "Attack of the Nerds" rather than "Revenge"). They consist of Aaron Ruell (making his debut) as his unemployed, thirty-something brother; Jon Gries ("The Rundown," "Get Shorty") as his older uncle-cum-door to door salesman who's stuck in the '80s (as is the film's soundtrack); and Tina Majorino ("Waterworld," "Corinna, Corrina") as the local portrait studio girl with a lone ponytail sticking out of the side, rather than back of her head.
You may find all, some or none of them as funny or amusing, but for me, they quickly wore on my nerves. Had there been more of a connective, imaginative and/or creative story, or a worthwhile examination of such people, my reaction may have been different. There isn't, however, and the result is an increasingly tedious affair.
At one point, Napoleon's uncle shows his nephews a home video of him at his "campsite" simply throwing a football by the camera (in yet one of many forced moments that are supposed to be hilarious). In response and in his usual, mouth-breathing, monotone way, Napoleon proclaims it's the worst video ever made.
I won't go as far as to borrow that line in describing this offering, but it's far from the brilliant comedy some are proclaiming. Then again, and to paraphrase Roger Daltrey, maybe I'm just talking about my generation. "Napoleon Dynamite" rates as a 3 out of 10.
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