This thing with Napoleon Dynamite

Last summer a movie with a budget of $400,000 was released in limited movie houses (mostly art movie houses). This movie was about life of a high school outcast and some of his friends and family. To top it off the movie did not take place in suburbia like many movies do but rather the small rural town of Preston, Idaho. Not far off from the Utah Stateline.

The word about this movie got around and the payoff was great. In its theatrical release the movie has grossed over $44 Million, in spite of mixed reviews. Just before Christmas Day Napoleon Dynamite was released on DVD and FOX shipped 2.5 million copies. On the first day it sold 1.35 million. The DVD release of Napoleon Dynamite includes deleted scenes, the short movie "Peluca" which served as the template of Napoleon Dynamite, and your commentary soundtrack.

To enjoy this movie you have to be one of these things.

1. Someone must have grown up in a rural area. You will love it more if those rural areas were around in Utah or Idaho.

2. This movie was made by a Mormon filmmaker and the culture in those areas is very conservative. There are movies that are for a Mormon audience, but Napoleon Dynamite is for a larger audience, not just Mormons. I will not join the church anytime soon.

3. If you were a outcast while growing up in school regardless were you lived, you will connect with Napoleon and his closest friends Deb and Pedro in this movie. You will also see the stuckups, bullies in the picture too. Napoleon does not care about those who want nothing with him, and does not care about being on top. He does what he likes, but he will stand up for himself if his uncaring Uncle Rico wrongs him in anyway.

Joseph Farah (World Net Daily) and C.W. Nevius (San Francisco Chronicle) have some great things to say about the movie Napoleon Dynamite. The movie by the way is rated PG for thematic elements and language. I don't recommend the movie for children under 10, but still it is a movie that you can feel good about watching with your middle and high school kids.

Link to Joseph Farah's piece

Link to C.W. Nevius's piece