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

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

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

| Jul 24, 2007

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

| Jun 24, 2006

As long as you don't mind making fun of the afflicted, there are some killer comic moments.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2006

I began to appreciate the neat reversals of expectations, slow pace and serene non sequiturs of the plot, the film's smart approach towards teen alienation, ludicrous ambition and impossible dreams.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 17, 2006

Napoleon Dynamite may be forcefully weird and intermittently humorous, and you might not know what the heck to make of it, but there's nothing shocking about its screenplay.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 21, 2005

Functions like an excruciating episode of Jerry Springer.

| Original Score: D | May 4, 2005

A Roschach test of viewer empathy… while I respect the concerns of those who find the movie cruel, I have to side with those who find it ultimately endearing.

| Original Score: B | May 2, 2005

Revels in its own kookiness and is the most engaging teen movie to emerge from the States for many a year.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 16, 2004

Funny enough that I'll refrain from describing the gags that made me laugh, lest I spoil them for you.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 3, 2004

It's a quirky, fresh slice-of-life more inviting than a tater-tot pyramid.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 3, 2004

An independent take on a Hollywood tradition, undermined by its cliches but saved by its performances.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jul 2, 2004

May be the most condescending comedy ever to imagine itself being too cool for the room.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jul 2, 2004

Has more belly laughs than 10 studio-produced, star-vehicle comedies.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 1, 2004

Calling this story about a quirky high-school student from a dysfunctional family who lives in a goofy small town a one-joke movie is exaggerating by a factor of 10.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Jul 1, 2004

Heder is magnificent, but the film's flat, eccentric tone is Hess' overarching achievement.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 25, 2004

Has a sweet momentum.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 25, 2004

A landmark achievement in curdled nostalgia, but the whole enterprise leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Full Review | Jun 25, 2004

Even if you don't like the film and its freak-show depiction of small-town life, it's hard not to admire the commitment of Jon Heder's performance.

| Original Score: B- | Jun 24, 2004

When the audience roared at Napoleon's almost spastic way of slicing the air with his limp-spaghetti arms, I cringed.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 24, 2004