Napoleon Dynamite

Most films that tend to come out and gain great success were released in a given cycle where that films genre was still popular at the time. The teen genre had its own cycle from the late 1990s to the early 2000s but even then most of them didn’t even standout like other great teen films such as the Breakfast Club, Rebel Without a Cause, or Dazed and Confused. However, one teen film that did standout and is used now in multiple different forms of entertainment is the film Napoleon Dynamite. Just like its predecessor Rebel Without a Cause the films is about a white suburban teen male that is struggling with achieving his desire to fit in with the popular crowd at high school. The protagonist Napoleon tries to hang out with the popular kids, but gets rejected just like Jim and the greasers he tried to befriend, but instead wind up befriending another outsider like themselves, and both of them have guardians that don’t seem to fully grasp what the main protagonists are going through. Nonetheless, Napoleon Dynamite didn’t gain popularity due to the drama that unfolded in the film like most of its predecessors, but instead from large amounts of comedy used to entice a new generation of teens, while also being relatable to people of all ages. The story of the film takes place in a small town in Idaho where the main protagonist tries to find a way to survive the remaining years of his high school career, while also trying to find a date for prom. The movie is filled with plentiful amounts of one liners and so many awkward teen conversations it will either make you cringe or laugh, while wandering how many scenes were perfect in the dailies of production. To most people who view this film they may find it dull for the lack of emotion that is present on the main characters faces, but by taking a closer look at their speech patterns and body language it shows that just like most teens they too are struggling with their internal feelings and are unsure as to how to express them, for unlike other characters in the movie Napoleon and Pedro always appear to have a monotone voice to possible symbolize their lack of skill. As critic for the Houston Chronical Amy Biancolli stated in her review “Napoleon Dynamite may be forcefully weird and intermittently humorous, and you might not know what the heck to make of it, but there's nothing shocking about its screenplay” and she couldn’t be anymore right. For the editing of the film with the arrangement of events that occurred to the stunning deep focus shots made the film very enticing. Since the film was released in 2004, it was probably digitally edited which made it easier to be put online for download or put on a DVD to boost its popularity. However you may see this film it will forever have a spot in pop culture.