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34
10,000 B.C.
55
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62
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36
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xx
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31
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41
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57
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67
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54
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49
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34
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57
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xx
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71
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61
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65
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79
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35
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73
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24
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37
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xx
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58
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48
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55
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22
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69
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44
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53
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76
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37
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37
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61
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47
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55
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33
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93
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64
Wanted
36
What Happens in Vegas...
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
79
Iron Man
76
Shine a Light
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Horton Hears a Who!
69
Redbelt
67
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
62
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
61
Stop Loss
61
Incredible Hulk, The
58
Mist, The
57
Forbidden Kingdom, The
57
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
55
Street Kings
55
Nim's Island
55
Baby Mama
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
49
Hancock
48
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
47
Strangers, The
44
Ruins, The
41
Drillbit Taylor
37
Made of Honor
37
Shutter
37
Speed Racer
36
College Road Trip
36
What Happens in Vegas...
35
Jumper
34
Happening, The
34
10,000 B.C.
33
Superhero Movie
31
Deception
24
Love Guru, The
22
Postal
xx
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
xx
Mamma Mia!
xx
Dark Knight, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

83
Alexandra
80
Band's Visit, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
47
Bella
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
59
Blind Mountain
55
Bra Boys
60
Brick Lane
70
Caramel
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
78
Counterfeiters, The
52
Diminished Capacity
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
84
Edge of Heaven, The
52
Elsa & Fred
79
Encounters at the End of the World
62
Expired
64
Fall, The
51
Finding Amanda
57
Flawless
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
60
Fugitive Pieces
45
Full Grown Men
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
69
Go-Getter, The
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
68
Heartbeat Detector
34
Holding Trevor
68
Honeydripper
55
Irina Palm
69
Jellyfish
60
Jihad for Love, A
68
Kabluey
62
Kiss the Bride
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
82
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38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
70
Love Songs
64
Married Life
30
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33
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53
Mister Lonely
75
Mongol
52
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52
My Blueberry Nights
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
84
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61
On the Rumba River
69
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61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
Paranoid Park
72
Priceless
51
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55
Quid Pro Quo
29
Red Roses and Petrol
79
Reprise
71
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56
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51
Savage Grace
76
Shotgun Stories
66
Son of Rambow
70
Standard Operating Procedure
62
Stuck
72
Surfwise
81
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
xx
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
71
To the Limit
54
Tracey Fragments, The
70
Trumbo
72
Tuya's Marriage
83
U2 3D
56
Unknown Woman
86
Up the Yangtze
79
Visitor, The
62
Wackness, The
37
War, Inc.
64
Water Lilies
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
55
Without the King
72
Woman on the Beach
64
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
84
My Winnipeg
84
Edge of Heaven, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
82
Last Mistress, The
81
Tell No One
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Reprise
79
Encounters at the End of the World
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
76
Shotgun Stories
75
Young@Heart
75
Mongol
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Woman on the Beach
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Surfwise
71
To the Limit
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Roman de gare
70
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Trumbo
70
Love Songs
70
Caramel
69
Go-Getter, The
69
Operation Filmmaker
69
Jellyfish
68
Kabluey
68
Heartbeat Detector
68
Honeydripper
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
66
Son of Rambow
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Married Life
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
64
XXY
64
Water Lilies
64
Fall, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Wackness, The
62
Stuck
62
Expired
62
Kiss the Bride
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
On the Rumba River
60
Fugitive Pieces
60
Brick Lane
60
Jihad for Love, A
59
Blind Mountain
57
Flawless
56
Unknown Woman
56
Then She Found Me
56
Sangre de mi sangre
55
Quid Pro Quo
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
55
Irina Palm
55
Bra Boys
55
Without the King
54
Tracey Fragments, The
53
Mister Lonely
52
Diminished Capacity
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Mother of Tears, The
52
My Blueberry Nights
51
Finding Amanda
51
Promotion, The
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Bella
45
Full Grown Men
38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
37
War, Inc.
34
Holding Trevor
33
Miss Conception
30
Meet Bill
29
Red Roses and Petrol
xx
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Napoleon Dynamite
Fox Searchlight Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Jon Heder,
Efren Ramirez,
Jon Gries,
Aaron Ruell,
Tina Majorino,
Haylie Duff,
Ellen Dubin,
and
Emily Kennard
From Preston, Idaho comes Napoleon Dynamite (Heder), a new kind of hero complete with a tight red 'fro, some sweet moon boots and skills that can't be topped. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Jared Hess
Jerusha Hess
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Jared Hess
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 21, 2004
Video: December 21, 2004
Theatrical: June 11, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
86 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2004 Sundance Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
90
Film Threat
Eric Campos
The cast playing these eccentric characters is magnificent...This is definitely one of the most unique comedies youll see all year.

90
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
Jon Heder in the magnificent Napoleon Dynamite, is one of the most winning movie creations in years.

90
Dallas Observer
Melissa Levine
It's charming. It's hilarious. It is perhaps the most beautifully crafted, lovingly rendered portrait of extreme geekitude ever to grace the screen. It's Napoleon Dynamite.

83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
If you're sick of the gross-out gags and sex jokes of contemporary teen comedy, this defiant blast of idiosyncratic individuality just could be your tonic.

80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
I laughed. And I laughed primarily over Heder's hilarious performance. You ain't seen nothing till you've seen Napoleon attack that tether ball.

80
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Thrusts us into a high school senior year like no other.

80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
More than a deadpan comedy about oddball losers. This dork has his day, and this story has its touching subtext -- growing pains relieved by unlikely hope.
78
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
For older and more reflective viewers, its a quirky, fresh slice-of-life more inviting than a tater-tot pyramid.

75
Portland Oregonian
Karen Karbo
A cult classic-in-the-making.

75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
A diverting and loosely connected series of episodes about the most bizarre screen family of 2004.

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
An inspired dead-end stunt that keeps delivering snarky laughs far longer than it has any right to.

75
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
While Solondz's world is a hell hole and Anderson's "Rushmore" is a place of high-toned and often poignant whimsy, Napoleon Dynamite's unceasing burlesque creates a world that is pretty much a cartoon--and it's a damn funny cartoon to boot.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Refreshing for its simplicity and its originality in a marketplace dominated by soulless blockbusters.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
There's plenty of humor in the film, but the movie is often a little uncomfortable to watch, and Napoleon is not an easy guy to like. Rooting for him takes effort.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
May not make you laugh out loud - it's too sly and subtle for that - but it will have you smiling every minute, and often grinning widely at its weirded-out charm. Nerdiness will never seem the same.

75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Hess and his terrific cast -- Heder is geek perfection -- make their own kind of deadpan hilarity. You'll laugh till it hurts. Sweet.

70
Variety
Todd McCarthy
An absurdist piece about a rural community of clueless cretins who careen through life like poorly played pinballs, Napoleon Dynamite represents the definition of the comedy of condescension and ridicule.

70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Both Hesses and a surprisingly large number of their very talented cast and crew are graduates of Brigham Young University's film program: Could BYU one day join the esteemed ranks of USC and NYU?

70
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Toward the end the freak-show humor begins to yield diminishing returns, but for most of its length this delivers a steady stream of uncomfortable gut laughs.

70
Newsweek
Devin Gordon
This achingly funny film is a string of vignettes with no real plot, so it has periods of pointlessness--come to think of it, it's all pointless. But it has "cult classic" written all over it.

70
Slate
David Edelstein
Napoleon Dynamite is too low-wattage to be a true nerd anthem, but it's charming in retrospect.

63
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
As slight as the picture is, though, its hero is an indelible creation.

63
USA Today
Mike Clark
There isn't much Napoleonic grandeur in this Idaho-set high school comedy, which in spite of its most condescending instincts, does have its moments.

63
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
With the exception of one truly glorious dance solo, the movie treats its hero - and his equally uncool family - with undisguised disdain.

60
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
The performances, even those by trained actors like Mr. Ramirez and Ms. Majorino, have the hesitant, blinking opacity that some directors look for in nonprofessional casts. Their awkwardness is charming, and part of the point of the movie, but it also makes for some dull stretches and thwarts your ability to regard the characters with sympathy rather than mere curiosity.

60
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
Sure, it quickly turns into a one-note exercise in laughing at the yokels, but at least it has a vision.

60
Empire
Helen O'Hara
As long as you don't mind making fun of the afflicted, there are some killer comic moments.

50
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
So deadpan a film is Napoleon Dynamite, the story and the name of a gangly high school misfit in Preston, Idaho, that I can't say whether it was intended as a character study or a comedy.

50
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
At the end of Napoleon Dynamite, you're glad the geeks have their day (even Kip's chat-mate turns out be a winner); you're also relieved to be rid of them.

50
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
It's fairly entertaining--but not the second coming of indie comedy some notices might lead you to expect.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Has to be enjoyed in spurts. There's no cohesive story, just a series of opportunities for the title character (Jon Heder) to strut his gawky stuff.

50
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
A one-note, lightweight, condescending comedy about the rubes of Idaho.

42
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Filmmaker Jared Hess (who cowrote the script with his wife, Jerusha Hess) installs Napoleon front and center as a punchline in and of himself -- and as that dispiriting product of narrative defeat, a symbol.

40
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
It's a simple collection of sight gags and pratfalls that mines the overly familiar turf of awkward adolescence without bringing anything truly original to the experience.

38
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
There is a kind of studied stupidity that sometimes passes as humor, and Jared Hess' Napoleon Dynamite pushes it as far as it can go.

30
LA Weekly
Scott Foundas
If Napoleon Dynamite really is, as reported, a semiautobiographical exercise, it is one of the most astoundingly self-hating such exercises in memory.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 453 User Votes
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