Subversive, subtle, sweet

Napoleon Dynamite (or DJ Nappy D, as I affectionately have named him) is one of those characters you identify with on so many subtle levels, even if you've never been to Idaho or been an actual geek - he's universally recognizable just the same; we've all felt awkward and frustrated, angry and disenfranchised in our growing-up days (and sometimes we still feel it). This is just one of the many things that makes this film so wonderful. There are the other characters, each of them very sharply drawn and realized - particularly Efren Ramirez as Pedro and the fantastic Tina Majorino as Deb - and there are the situations that these characters find themselves in.

Most of the time, when someone tries to write a movie like this (quirky teenagers and/or clueless adults trying to cope), the effort is ultimately done in by contrivance and heavy-handedness. But here, all the situations, as outrageous as they are, always feel organic - growing naturally out of the characters' day-to-day existences. And the tone is consistent throughout - there's not one scene that feels out of place or one line of dialogue that doesn't fit.

Another thing I really love about the film is how Napoleon always keeps trying -- no matter how bleak and frustrating his life is (and he knows it), he keeps pluggin' away, slowly but surely; this makes him ultimately endearing, and the film's payoff is brilliantly subtle and subversive, the kind of sweet ending Mike White would come up with (and if you know my reviews at all, you know how I feel about him). Jared Hess, Jon Heder and company can be proud of this one.