I saw this movie in theaters when it first came out and was quite curious because of the hype surrounding it at the time. When I walked out, all I could hear myself saying in my mind was "What the hell just happened?" and felt like going back to the box office and asking for my 10 bucks back.
Reader, I positively *hated* it - I didn't "get" the humour and I thought all the people in this movie were just plain weird - like somehow this movie was "trying" too hard to be funny yet the humour was falling flat. Also the style of most of the folks had me wondering if this movie was in the 80's or something or if the film makers were torn between setting this movie up in the 80's or 90's or maybe if the film makers were making some sort of statement on mid-westerners being 10 years behind us east and west coasters - I mean the weird T-shirts, Naploleon's hair and attire, the break-dancing music, Deb wearing stir-up pants, the ponytail on one side, 80's music like Cyndi Lauper and poofy prom dresses. The only thing that gave it away that this film takes place more recently were the references to the Internet for Uncle Rico's time machine, the heavy techno-dance music that Pedro's cousin play in their muscle mobile and Kip's online romance with Lafawnduh as well as Napoleon's dance sequence to Jamiroquoi's "Canned Heat" at the very end (which BTW, seemed to be inspired by the "Solid Gold" dancers of the 70's and 80's).
Then something strange happened. The film cable channels here started playing it frequently and I'd catch bits and pieces of it here and there and found myself enjoying the humour more and more. I was finally getting it and enjoying it - I was even starting the know certain parts of it by heart. My brother went out and bought the DVD of the film and now I can safely say, I really love this little film. After being absorbed in Napoleon's universe, you realize he's actually a really good kid and just trying to find his place in the grand scheme of things despite being misunderstood at school and at home. You end up *wanting* Napoleon to succeed and be happy and I think we can safely assume he does. In some ways, this film is like Napoleon, it's the small-budget film that could and I'm glad to see the cult following this film has developed. It deserves all it gets.
To those of you who hated this film after watching it once, all I can say is I'd encourage you to watch it once more and give it a chance. I'm sure glad I did.
Reader, I positively *hated* it - I didn't "get" the humour and I thought all the people in this movie were just plain weird - like somehow this movie was "trying" too hard to be funny yet the humour was falling flat. Also the style of most of the folks had me wondering if this movie was in the 80's or something or if the film makers were torn between setting this movie up in the 80's or 90's or maybe if the film makers were making some sort of statement on mid-westerners being 10 years behind us east and west coasters - I mean the weird T-shirts, Naploleon's hair and attire, the break-dancing music, Deb wearing stir-up pants, the ponytail on one side, 80's music like Cyndi Lauper and poofy prom dresses. The only thing that gave it away that this film takes place more recently were the references to the Internet for Uncle Rico's time machine, the heavy techno-dance music that Pedro's cousin play in their muscle mobile and Kip's online romance with Lafawnduh as well as Napoleon's dance sequence to Jamiroquoi's "Canned Heat" at the very end (which BTW, seemed to be inspired by the "Solid Gold" dancers of the 70's and 80's).
Then something strange happened. The film cable channels here started playing it frequently and I'd catch bits and pieces of it here and there and found myself enjoying the humour more and more. I was finally getting it and enjoying it - I was even starting the know certain parts of it by heart. My brother went out and bought the DVD of the film and now I can safely say, I really love this little film. After being absorbed in Napoleon's universe, you realize he's actually a really good kid and just trying to find his place in the grand scheme of things despite being misunderstood at school and at home. You end up *wanting* Napoleon to succeed and be happy and I think we can safely assume he does. In some ways, this film is like Napoleon, it's the small-budget film that could and I'm glad to see the cult following this film has developed. It deserves all it gets.
To those of you who hated this film after watching it once, all I can say is I'd encourage you to watch it once more and give it a chance. I'm sure glad I did.