Those looking for credible developments should steer clear: the movie is all about the moment, the juxtaposition of the sublime and the absurd.

| Original Score: B | Sep 19, 2022

The soundtrack is casual, catchy, and sensationally fitting, complementing the alternating weirdness and sweetness of the incredibly singular personas onscreen.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Nov 7, 2020

Geek extraordinaire Napoleon thinks he's dynamite, wearing his brown velour suit and other 1970s fashion faux pas like they were bestowed on him to be cooler-than-you in. You will be inspired to likewise walk to the beat of your own drum.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 17, 2020

It actually lived up to the hype.

| Original Score: A | May 9, 2019

This film can be utterly brilliant one minute and less than zero a second later. It's an oddball film whose attempt at mainstream seduction may make it all too easy to overrate.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 22, 2019

There's something distinctly sour-tasting in how long the film lingers on its characters doubling-down on their awkwardness.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 4, 2016

The approach has all the lasting charm of a train derailment, but at least the train is going somewhere before it is brought to disaster.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Mar 24, 2014

For all its charm and its impeccable leads, Napoleon Dynamite is a modish exercise in anti-cool. Still, a strong debut for all its young talents.

| Nov 8, 2011

One-of-a-kind high school comedy for the family.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 26, 2010

Napoleon's climactic spaz-out dance is more than just a goofy gag. It's a payoff to a great buddy-system comedy and the idea that it's not high school's dreams and regrets that last, but the sometimes-bizarre friendships.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 19, 2010

too odd to dismiss and often truly funny

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 22, 2010

Just incredibly mind-numbing and unfunny...

| Apr 29, 2009

Napoleon Dynamite may not even be friggin' sweet, but it does have skills. [Blu-ray]

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 10, 2009

The characters are all weird and nothing much happens in Napoleon Dynamite, yet this droll and understated geek-comedy zings with truth.

| Oct 18, 2008

Heder seems perversely bored, unable to hold his eyes open; was that a conscious acting choice, or was he simply reading his lines off the floor?

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Writer-director Jared Hess tries for John Hughes by way of the Coen Brothers, but only comes up with one dull, unfunny non-sequitur after another.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Dec 27, 2007

For most of its length this delivers a steady stream of uncomfortable gut laughs.

| Jul 24, 2007

If you have an indie film sense of humor -- and those of you who have it know what I mean -- you'll probably enjoy this flick.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 2, 2006

It's a cast of brilliant caricatures, and as such recalls the films of Wes Anderson.

| Jun 24, 2006

Seething with teen-angst irritability and an obstinate blind ignorance to just how much of an outcast he is, Napoleon Dynamite may be the biggest dork in the history of high school movies.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 26, 2006