How Napoleon Dynamite Broke The Algorithm 

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I can't begin to describe just how big this movie was in Idaho where it was filmed. We had a Napoleon Dynamite party at the end of 6th grade complete with a dance off and tot-eating contest. I won a trip to Preston, Idaho between innings at a Boise Hawks game on Napoleon Dynamite night. Almost everyone in Preston was connected to the film in some way. Nothing has ever felt like it captured the true mediocrity of middle-class small-town Idaho before or since.

I love how loose the whole movie feels. It's so real and so dumb and so brilliant at the same time. It's wholesome.

Napoleon Dynamite captured the 80's and 90's (and even early 2000's) podunk nowhere absolutely perfectly. It's life just before the modern internet, with all its stumbling friendships, stupid family fights, awkward romances, and every once in a while, that one rare moment when the weirdest kid at school did something so impressive that no one could deny it was cool. This movie is a time capsule, and it's friggin' hilarious.

To me, it always felt like a "home movie" rather than a film. I think that's what it comes down to. It's the ONLY movie I can think of that feels like "someone just filmed themselves and their family's genuine going about their day" and it managed to hit theaters. The editing and shots IMO felt more "real life" than pretty much every single other proper movie I've ever seen.

Also Napoleon is a teenager comedy from the 2000s, back in those days these types of movies featured: Trendy clothing, trendy hairstyles, sexy everybody, sex, big city suburbs location, soundtrack featuring the hottest bands at the moment, famous people. Napoleon had: outdated clothing (with washed out colors), outdated hairstyles, everyone is ugly, unsexy, nobody fucks, bumfuck nowhere, the soundtrack i shit you not is ELEVATOR MUSIC, nobody famous in it. Its a memeable timeless masterpiece.

A lot of the people I know who LOVE this movie say it's because they can relate to it. They're from small-town no-where USA, and they're like "I know that guy", "that was me", "we did that", "I've seen that", "that's exactly what it's like", "this is so relatable that it's hilarious and uncomfortable". What a lot of people don't get (whether the liked the movie or not) is that, for a lot of fly-over America, this is their mundane reality of oddball day-to-day life. It's small town life in the middle of nowhere, with all of the overlooked weirdness that seems to take refuge there.

As someone who is Autistic. The monotone and often expressionless characters really resonated with me. They still had emotions and character without having to show it on their faces. I relayed to them a lot.

One of the few moments of pure joy in my life was when my friend from Idaho told me about her experience with this movie. She first watched it in Idaho and neither she nor anyone else in the audience thought that it showed anything odd. Then when she went away to college in Virginia a few months later, she went to an on campus screening of Napoleon with her new friends that really wanted to see it. She was stunned that everyone in the theater laughed at every moment and it was one of the biggest learning moments of her life.

Napoleon Dynamite involves the viewer, who has to find what's funny or what's deep, rather than throwing it in your face where you can't miss it. And that takes multiple viewings, with the movie being appreciated more and more each time. That's rare.

The cast and crew of Napoleon Dynamite seem to be really nice people and they always do a ton of meet and greets. Just a few months ago they were at a local theater where I live for a showing and a Q&A afterwards. It did sort of add to the experience of the movie.

When this movie premiered, my wife and I went to preview it to make sure it was an okay flick for a 14 year old. We watched the whole film thinking something dark was going to happen, but it never did. We mostly sat there silently stunned. We walked out of the theater, into the daylight, and still hadn’t said anything to each other. Just before we got to the car, I turned to her and said “I don’t know what we just saw, but that’s going to be a cult movie.“ Yeah, I was prescient, so, you know, I have that going for me. He, of course, loved it when he saw it, and my wife and I have watched it and quoted it often. How often? Whenever we WANT!! GOSH!!!

There's something oddly familiar and nostalgic that I can't really put my finger on. Something that captures the sweetly mundane, often awkward and yet dramatic little parts of youth that have been locked away and forgotten. Eating food from your pockets during class is something I'd done but have totally erased it from my memory until I saw that scene. The mystical powers of Ninjas and their weapons taken from the back pages of old comic books that somehow became fact among your friends. Bike tricks being the pinnacle of awesome...

Honestly this movie really resonates with people like me from middle America, especially the west. Everyone I know in Utah love this movie. Middle America is full of characters stuck 20 years behind the rest of the country, so I’d assume more urban populations wouldn’t really get the specific lampoons. The Tupperware schemes, the boondoggles, the 4 H club, the fashion, the incoherent farmer, thrift stores, etc.

i watched this movie for the first time in college while stoned out of my mind and i think that is still the most I have ever laughed at something

I come from a small town in New Zealand and this film became immediate cult classic there. Before we even knew about memes we were trading pictures of ligers, making our own vote for pedro shirts, and quoting the film everywhere we could. Probably one of the biggest film experiences of my mid-late teens

I LOVE this movie! It's about friendship, loyalty, and courage when Napoleon dances to backup Pedro when he can't do his skit. Napoleon also scores a win for the downtrodden uncool kids. I love how the universe sets things right at the end for all the quirky but good-hearted people. It makes me happy to see them happy. The last montage scene always warms my heart.

I discovered Napoleon Dynamite during one of the lowest, loneliest periods of my life in high school. I rented it on a whim and watched it late at night on a school night when I was supposed to be sleeping. I instantly fell in love with it and it's been a favorite ever since, but I could never quite put my finger on what exactly resonated with me so much until someone pointed out to me that the it's a movie about loneliness and overcoming it. I guess that's definitely a part of it. Also add to that the rural setting that very strongly resembles the place I grew up and it all adds up to be exactly the movie I needed at that point in my life. 18 years later and I'm still so grateful I stumbled on it.

It took me a while to really appreciate this quirky film. The plot mostly meanders along, with nothing really much happening. But at the beginning, Napoleon states that he's going to do "Whatever he feels like doing", so it works as a slice of life look at offbeat characters, who are all memorable in their own ways.

We have all felt awkward and we all pretty much hate that feeling. Napoleon put's the viewer into that sticky feeling like no other movie I've ever seen. But our character never overcomes the sticky awkwardness, he embraces it and in the end, wins with it. A good movie or song makes you feel something. Some people never want to feel awkward again and some people relate to it with familiarity. And that's why some people love it and some hate it.

I introduced this movie to my little sister like two years ago and when watching it I found a new perspective. That in the setting of the film despite everyone and everything being mundane, Napoleon is actually the most interesting person. To everyone else he is a dork and he has no friends but as the movie goes on it becomes really apparent how boring everyone else is and nothing separates them from one another, not even Summer and her boyfriend who are presented as the cool couple. Napoleon on the other hand is into fantasy, drawing, and picks up dancing on the spot. So it is ironic that despite being the gawky kid, Napoleon is also the most interesting person in town

this movie is spectacular and i dont care what anyone says. the scene where rico sits down kip and napoleon to watch a video of him throwing a ball holds a special place in my heart

In my mind the aesthetic wasn't just weird, it was absurd. Maybe its from growing up in a small town, but all the 'quirky' bits seemed familiar in their inexplicability. Characters, for instance, weren't personally relatable but my reaction for each oddball was, 'oh, I knew a guy like that.'

I'm a lover of film and must say-- this movie was great! This is exactly what film should be all about... doing things that dont follow the formula or conform to standards and expectations. It's ART people! Get creative; take risks; express your unique world perspectives! It's the whole point! And that's what I appreciated most about this film-- it was fiercely unapologetic for being true to itself-- which, of course, describes Napoleon Dynamite the character as well. I also loved that it had heart. The end was a surprise that gave you something to take home with you. In conclusion, this film was a net-positive for the arts and entertainment industry-- an industry that desperately needs to become reacquainted with the concept of experimentalism.

Well, this will be a bit of a mouthful, but here we go. This movie probably feels a little different to me than most people who see it. This is because I grew up in Preston Idaho. I would watch this movie when I was a little kid too, so I didn't really understand just how bizarre it was that out of all the random, small towns there are, this movie took place in the one I lived in. I did, however, recognize the locations. In fact, just by looking at background details, I'm able to tell roughly where a lot of the scenes are shot in conjunction to the main part of the town, even if I didn't go to a lot of them often. And that's not counting all the locations I recognize because I would actually go there often. There are three things to really look for to tell: 1: A mountain formation in the background called Little Mountain. It can be seen by Pedro's cousin's head at 1:44, and it enters the right side of the screen at 4:14. It is to the south of town, and a little bit to the east. You can actually find it in a lot of shots of the movie, if you're looking. It can usually be seen from the east or south of town, but it can also be seen from in town. 2: So basically, there's this mountain range to the East of the town. From the point of view near Preston, you can separate it into two different parts: the shorter, rounder, brown mountains, and the taller, sharper, dark mountains. The dark mountains stretch into the south while the brown mountains to the north. Preston sits near them at a point where the dark mountains can be seen from behind the brown mountains. If you see both of them at the same time, you are near some point between (or in) Preston and the mountain range. If you see only brown mountains and rolling hills, you are north of town. If you see flat-ish valley and/or dark mountains in the background, you are to the south of town. 3: This one doesn't show up as much, but there are also mountains to the west of Preston. They look smaller than the ones to the east, but that because the town is much closer to the east side of the valley. They also run a little bit to the north of town, but mainly on the west side. They are dark like the mountains that stretch south. If you see them, you are looking west, and probably to the west or north of town, but possibly south. Alright, with all that out of the way, let's start figuring out where some things take place. Napoleon's house is to the east of town. The shot at 1:13 seems to be to the south of town, facing south, while the shot right after seems to be to the northeast of town, facing north (brown hills on right and short, dark mountains on left means facing north.) The shot at 1:43 is facing south, seems to be just east of town, though possibly a bit to the south as well. The car is driving north. The shot at 4:13 actually seems to take place at or near Napoleon's house, as the mountains are the dark ones with the brown ones in front of them, like the ones seen from Napoleon's house. The wide shot at 2:21 looks like it was filmed from the north end of the valley, facing west, but it could have been facing north. I'm not entirely sure. As for the locations I recognize, it was a bit confusing as a kid, since a lot of the locations that seem to take place next to each other are in different places. For example, the tether-ball is at the elementary school, which is on the southern end of the town, but the scene acts like it's at the high school, which is in a completely different place in town. I knew the people who lived in the interior of Napoleon's house, which was a different building than the exterior. The bowling alley is along the southern end of main street. The bleachers and track are right next to the parking lot of a church, which is across an intersection from the high school, but the track is not next to the high school. A church steeple can be seen at 5:36. I went to the high school in the movie and have performed on the stage that Napoleon dances on. The colorful lockers are pretty much just in the hallway near the entrance as well as the floor right above that, but not in any of the newer parts of the school. The entrance can be seen from outside at 2:30, and the bike racks are in the correct spot by it. The auditorium can be accessed from the main hallway right across from the entrance. The house I grew up in is visible somewhere in the movie, but I will not say where, and some of the people who appear in the movie are relatives of mine. The store that Rico and Napoleon shop at was a chain store called Kings, but it shut down a few years ago. It wasn't the main grocery store in town. That would be a store called Stokes. The restaurant that Rico and Kip eat at, Big J's, still exists, but the building is different. It's burgers were pretty good. The patty might have felt too thin for some, but their grilling and condiment game was on point. It is also part of the same business as a pizza store right next to it called Pizza Villa, which had the best pizza in town, don't @ me. Pizza Villa had paintings of clowns in it (not scary ones) painted by a man, who I believe is dead, whose mother I knew, but she passed away a couple years ago in her 90s. She was a sweet lady. It shut down a couple years ago, but there was a video rental (as well as a bunch of other stuff) store in town a couple of years ago that had a ton of Napoleon Dynamite merch and stuff. The bowling alley has a lot of Napoleon Dynamite paraphernalia, like a big Uncle Rico signature on a wall, and a pin that was used in the movie. There is an annual parade that happens in the town, and I believe they used to showcase Uncle Rico's van, but I don't believe they do anymore. Despite how it looks, it really does take place the year it was released. There are a lot of old houses in Preston, and small towns are usually some of the last places to integrate modern technology. I have been to houses in the town that feel super old and archaic, but people still live there. Well, that was quite a ramble. I don't usually do stuff like that when I see RU-vid content about Napoleon Dynamite, but I felt like mentioning some stuff. I might delete this later since I don't like my online presence to be too connected with me in real life, and saying I lived in a such a specific small town pins me down a bit more than the stuff I usually say. Welp, that's about it. I might make a RU-vid video about something like this someday.

Napoleon dynamite came out when I was 12 or 13, it was more than a movie. it was a phenomenon. I remember me, my neighbors, my friends, my siblings, my cousins, EVERYONE had to have a Vote for Pedro shirt immediately. Also, being raised Mormon, it was everyone's favorite film because it was made by Mormons and was family friendly but still funny as all hell. Also: at 6:30, Jon Heder is wearing a shirt that says "Ricks College 1983". One of my teachers at church as a kid was a Ricks, and he taught us that Ricks College isn now BYU Idaho. Also, when Napoleon is shopping for his tux, he is at Deseret Industries, the Mormon thrift store. I'm definitely not Mormon anymore, but there's a lot of stuff in the movie that only Mormons would notice.

I dressed up as Napoleon for a "bad taste party" back in the day. Including the curly hair! My friend - the only other person who had seen the film - literally rolled on the floor laughing when he saw me. I will never forget his laugh. RIP buddy...

When this movie first came out, it always bothered me when people said it has no plot. It absolutely does! Thank you for articulating that so well.

This movie is basically what me and my friends would do after school when I was in highschool. We would go to the thrift store and just look at random stuff and I actually had a job on a chicken farm when I was in school so when he grabs the chicken and starts getting pecked by it and gets wildly underpaid for working in a baking hot chicken house all day is something I can actually relate to. And the 1980's keyboard music is all that the thrift store used to play and we would go in there and sometimes we would chuck out a Napoleon Dynamite quote.

Speaking as someone who has never seen the movie but is of course familiar with it, I loved this essay. Lana Wachowski's point about aesthetics was phenomenal and you really added to it with the Rocky comparison. Brilliant. I too hope the Age of the Algorithm will not deprive us of movies that defy easy categorization. Those are often the ones that bring me most joy.

I tried to watch this film when I was 14, and I remember thinking it was kind of stupid, and turned it off about 20 minutes in. 5 years later, I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and ended up watching it again. I absolutely loved it. So, either I've gotten dumber over the years, or I finally "got it". Either way, I love this movie, and I'm really happy to see you cover it!

@8:08 - The guy who shoots the cow is Dale Critchlow - he passed away two days ago, on Feb. 18th. Just wanna say rest in peace to a man who a lot of people may never hear the name of.

Although this was aimed at / marketed to teens, there were so many things in this movie that resonated with multiple age groups. Something as simple as the super long phone cord. We were already used to wireless phones in almost every home, so many teens just thought it was weird - but people slightly older had hard flashbacks to their teens when that was an actual thing This was an absolutely brilliant movie

I liked this movie when it first came out because I *was* one of those weird kids that played with the tether ball in middle school, and I liked seeing Napoleon and his friends succeed. As an adult, I LOVE this movie, because I can see how sweetly and sincerely it was written and shot, which is so at odds with expectations that Napoleon is “supposed to be” made fun of because he’s awkward and uncharismatic. If you watch with an open mind, you see this little hero’s journey unfolding, showing all those weird kids out there drawing ligers and making lanyards that they can succeed in their own ways.

For a while, I couldn't decide whether I loved or hated this film. I fell in love with it when I saw the picture he drew with the shading on the top lip.

I think all of us have known someone like Napoleon, Pedro, or Uncle Rico. There’s something to this film that is so relatable, like I feel like I’ve sat in Napoleon’s grandmas house before or hung out with the broken English kid and even made friends with him. They accomplished something in this movie that is so unique but so familiar and nostalgic at the same time…

I am from Gold Coast , Australia and it eerily reminds me of high school in the late 80’s. The way we used to be. I think that’s why I was so glued to it. The more I watched this film the more I would pick up little things that I missed before and the more I liked this film. Still can watch this movie over and over.

What amazed me the most about the movie is how timeless it felt. When I first saw it, I genuinely thought it was made around the 1980s and 90s due to it's use of the camera, weird teenage humor, and 80s songs. Then I found out that it was made in 2004 which really shocked me because I found it hard to believe that a movie so modern could capture a mundane life of someone in 1980s-90s Idaho. And I still do sometimes which reinforces how aesthetic can really change your perspective of a movie. Really good video there!

This kind of happened with the Amazon show Patriot. That show has such a specific, weird, sad, and surreal tone to it, but it's story on the surface seems fairly straight forward. All the trailers made for it depicted it as this Get Smart like spy comedy or something, completely missing the point of the series and the main character, and I myself wouldn't have ever watched it if it weren't for word of mouth recommendations. Then of course, because nobody really checked it out, it got cancelled before it could do it's final third season. It's a fantastic, brilliant show but probably pretty hit or miss and the aesthetic is so paramount to that. I've heard in interviews that they were given a ton of creative freedom making it, but then I don't think Amazon knew how to advertise it or who to recommend it to after the fact and it arguably suffered because of that same freedom. It definitely seems like as these streaming services become more and more popular they're going to be leaning to safer options more and more, which is a shame because the initial appeal of netflix originals when they first came around was how unique and creatively free they were.

This movie captures a sort of feeling that I’ve never seen ever again in a movie, and I love it. It reminds me of so many things that I don’t even know if I remember or not

Great interpretation and thoughts. I think a major part of whether people like it or not is where they fit in when they were in high school and how they feel about it. Being somewhat of a weirdo back then, it resonated with me. Feeling awkward and then finding your people and strengths. Then again my mom likes it too and she was one of the popular kids. So maybe I'm wrong. Gonna go make a dang quesadilla

This movie was quoted INCESSANTLY by my friends to the point where I could pretty much recite it before I had even seen it. I loved it when I did see it though...and I still do.

Despite being a truly independent production helmed by first time filmmakers with a cast of unknowns and a few seasoned character actors, Napoleon Dynamite seems like a movie that was made in a lab to become a cult classic. What's surprising is that it ended up having the inverse trajectory and became a full-blown fad rather than a hidden gem that fans coalesced around over time. This has a lot to do with the nature of the joint marketing blitz mounted by Fox Searchlight and MTV Films that forced the cultural saturation point (to great success at the box office and subsequently DVD rentals and sales) but it blew past indie darling status and wore out its welcome quickly. The backlash settled in relatively early on and people acted like no one ever liked it and was cynical, too-quirky Hollywood hype machine fodder. This happened with a number of Searchlight comedies under Peter Rice's tenure as president like Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno etc.

I was in 7th grade and my sister 11th when this came out, and we both remember all of our friends liking and quoting this movie. I'm now 31 and still love this movie. Not many movies could be watched and loved by adults and children alike.

Outstanding commentary and analysis!!!!!!

I couldn't say why, but at one point as a kid I rewatched the final dance scene every night on a little portable DVD player before bed. This movie completely entranced me.

pedro lacks political experience

Subscribed because of this amazing insight to one of my favorite movies of all time. Thank you!

This was an absolutely brilliant analysis. Congratulations and thank you.

Brought back some classic memories today. Great video man! 💕 It really is weird how aesthetic is rarely talked about by audiences. Maybe that’ll change one day

The more you can relate to Napoleon, the easier it is too see everything you have said. I don't think popular people can relate to Napoleon very well. This was a great video. Thanks!

Sheesh! This is such a great breakdown!! Thank you!

Wonderfully made! Thank you!

I think that the closer you get to the culture of Napoleon, the easier it is to understand the aesthetic. The aesthetic is very much small town intermountain west. In Utah growing up, the only people that didn't seem to like it were the kids that moved here from California, or wanted to live in California. Everyone who was a true Utahn absolutely loved it. My wife is from California, and hated it when we first got married. Now 12 years later, most of that time living here in Utah, we watched it the other day and she absolutely loved it.

Great take on it. As a statistician, I appreciate your analysis of this algorithm-breaking movie.

Interesting commentary-well done!

Really good job. Thanks for sharing

I liked the movie from the beginning, but I can't take all the credit for seeing its greatness, or anything like that. For me it was more of a timing thing. I was born and raised in Germany and German pop culture in the 90s and early 2000s was totally dominated by just this kind of weird, quirky, awkward humor. Napoleon Dynamite just fit into that very neatly, so I guess you can say I was primed and prepared to like it. It didn't feel strange or cryptic to me. I grew up with this kind of stuff.

YES!!! One of my favourite movies! Not just a sense of nostalgia for me. It was also my first exposure to indie cinema as well as my first exposure to a sorta vignette-based film If it was made in 2010, it would've definitely been a web series during the height of the web series craze. It would work so well in that format!

This is a brilliant video and analysis.

One of favorite movies. And you put out quality content and your commitment to detail and your sincerity got a sub and like, Looking forward to more.

It's always a good day when you drop a video!

It's the only movie has such a specific feeling of authenticity, it's odd. I know some of it's exaggerated, but it never feels that way. And any changes of the heart happened as it usually does in real life: quietly inside of people, and you'd only know through a change in routine. A true comfort movie for me. Brings back so many great memories, too.

Dude spot on. Great video!

Hey, I just discovered your channel, nice job, mate ! I am going to watch that movie !

They filmed most of this movie about 15 minutes away from my house. While it didn't make me laugh out loud very often I found it pleasant to watch and extremely quotable.

I’ve never tried to understand why I love this movie. It always felt comfortable. It doesn’t remind me of home, but it feels like home.

Cool video! Thank you for this. I love Napoleon Dynamite so much, but I hadn't heard of The Napoleon Dynamite Effect. I learned a lot from this video. It helped me see one of my favorite movies in another light. It's interesting that I love Napoleon Dynamite but I dislike Wes Anderson films, although they apparently share the quirkiness. I didn't think about Napoleon Dynamite being a hero's journey but it kinda is. That's cool! P.S. You make me feel old because I was already in college when this movie came out!

This review is the best and most in-depth I have ever seen on the best movie ever made. Subscriber earned.

I remember the first time I saw it and was just confused by it. My only thought was "nothing happened". But I couldn't wait to watch again because of how goofy it was. It wasn't a rom-com, it wasn't a coming-of-age story, and was barely a comedy. But I loved how simple it was; the stakes are super low but perfectly capture what feels like to be ordinary. There was just something admiral about its originality. And there still isn't any other movie or show that is similar to it.

To me the movie is a mild tragedy about the lonely, the “passed by”, the dreamers. They find their own inner sparks in ways deeply meaningful to themselves, but no-one else….as the universe spins endlessly, and mindlessly, around them.

Great analysis.

What a perfect (and meta) way to end your video (with that scene from the film with Napoleon saying, "This was pretty much the worst video ever made!" But seriously, great discussion on a great film. Speaking of analogues, a really similar film I adore is "Eagle Vs. Shark." If anyone out there is saying, "Gimme something like Napoleon Dynamite," I think E vs S is about as close as you get, though each film is of course highly distinctive and singular.

It's hard for me to imagine not liking that movie.

Oh, NOW I see it!

Great analysis

That was great commentary.

Wow, I never noticed how similar to Wes Anderson it was until this video, a real eye opener!

This is the only movie my father has ever forced our entire family to sit down and watch together. We have the exact same sense of humor, so naturally I also love this stupid movie. Made even better by how much my dad looked like Napoleon in high school. Really, it's uncanny.

I knew I was gonna like it right away, so I paused the video, watched Napoleon, and came back to watch the rest of the video. IT IS HILARIOUS. thank you. Also, Love your channel

I remember seeing ND in a theater. Immediately went back and took friends to see it. That movie brought PURE JOY to me.

I watched Napoleon Dynamite when I heard about it breaking the algorithm. I liked it because it was about normal maturation, which isn't usually a subject for movies. Not exactly a hero's journey, but more like becoming steadier and more sensible after an unpromising start.

I love Napoleon Dynamite, but I am definitely a convert. I hated it the first time I watched it. When my friends started quoting it, I watched it again and hated it a little less. When they started to point out weird things hidden, like the growing pile of cheese, I started liking it. When I watched it again later that was when I really started to love it. It's geeky, but adorable.

This was great, thank you. i was 25 and saw it on a college campus with my boyfriend; i had (and still have) never seen an audience laugh so surprisedly and naturally at the same time! It was SUCH a fun screening and this movie has held a special place in my heart ever since. IIRC, we went *because* the review in the local indie rag described it as 'difficult to categorize'. i didn't exactly grow up in a small town but i think this movie portrays life as an outsider very well. (Also, as another commenter points out, this time period at The Dawn of the Internet was a very specific feeling. A low rumble, a trembling, before the whole world cracked + opened up. More innocent for sure.) Ultimately, it's all about being yourself and following your heart!! There simply is no movie like it.

Great take on the movie. I never thought about it but agree with everything you say.

I think what’s special about it is that all characters, including the cool kids, are incredibly lame. The popular girl is a troop leader for an interpretive sign language dance troop for Christ’s sake!

I still need a t-shirt saying: "Your mom goes to college!"

I didn't get it at first, but it grows on you. It has so many great quotes. Also makes everyone feel better about their own circumstances.

Great stuff

I can't tell you how true to life this movie was for me. I had 2 sons and the movie could have been written with them in mind. I laughed so hard the first time I saw this! My sons' of course didn't see any similarities whatsoever which made it even that much more funny 🤣

I think Napoleon Dynamite is akin to Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Both films show a hero who's a 'nerd' or outcast, in other words an unlucky low status person. BUT, the lesson with both movies is that the measure of how cool you are is inside yourself, and nowhere else. You are as exactly cool as you believe you are. No one can tell you otherwise. Heck Yeah!

I love this movie - I find something new to laugh at whenever I watch it (once or twice a year). It's a rambling examination of the dynamics of relationships and how weird and glorious all we human beings are. Thanks for reminding me - I'll watch it again tonight!

Recently I attended a screening of this where Jon Heder, Jon Gries, & Efren Ramirez did a Q&A after. Being in a packed theater where everyone was a super fan was amazing! Many people dressed up as characters. I was just as wonderful as the first few times I saw it in a theatre. There is a universality to it. When it first came out I went with my mom and as soon as the credits started she leaned over and said "I love this movie!" We made my grandpa watch it and while he complained, when my uncles watched it he kept saying "watch this next part!" This will always be one of my favorite movies and I see something I missed or had forgotten every time I watch it.

Before finishing watching the video, I LOOOOOOOVE THIS FILM and I hope one day I create a cult for this film's lovers.

I've been thinking about this movie a lot lately, and one unique thing that makes me appreciate it is it shows that life during simpler times had a charm to it. Living in a small town, in days before the internet, you felt so isolated from the rest of the world, but that made it feel almost cozy in a way.

Very well described. Amazed to realised my both movies Rocky and Napoleon D. are similar. Never thought of that.

Great Show . Honest. Holds up even if food saver bowls don't

People who like Napoleon Dynamite are 100% more likely to have a video essay youtube channel.

I'd love to see more Jared Hess conent. Napoleon might be my second most quoted movie, sadly it cant beat Kung Pow probobly ever :

Great vid