MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Down 50 this week

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

 -  Comedy  -  27 August 2004 (USA)
6.8
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.8/10 from 115,103 users   Metascore: 64/100
Reviews: 1,425 user | 215 critic | 36 from Metacritic.com

A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 88 titles created 9 months ago
 
a list of 2369 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 580 titles created 16 Jul 2011
 
a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 641 titles created 11 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) on IMDb 6.8/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Napoleon Dynamite.
10 wins & 18 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.

Director: Marc Webb
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend
The Graduate (1967)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner and then finds himself falling in love with her daughter, Elaine.

Director: Mike Nichols
Stars: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross
Sideways (2004)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

Two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment, embark on a week long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.

Director: Alexander Payne
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen
Cyrus I (2010)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

A recently divorced guy meets the woman of his dreams. Then he meets her son.

Directors: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Stars: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei
Garden State (2004)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.

Director: Zach Braff
Stars: Zach Braff, Kenneth Graymez, Peter Sarsgaard
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity.

Director: Miguel Arteta
Stars: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.

Director: Wolfgang Becker
Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

An African prince goes to Queens, New York City to find a wife whom he can respect for her intelligence and will.

Director: John Landis
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is in an accident.

Director: James L. Brooks
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear
About a Boy (2002)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Based on Nick Hornby's best-selling novel, About A Boy is the story of a cynical, immature young man who is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy

Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Stars: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Sharon Small
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A story of a group of California teenagers who enjoy malls, sex and rock n' roll.

Director: Amy Heckerling
Stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold
Adventureland (2009)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

In the summer of 1987, a college grad takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.

Director: Greg Mottola
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kelsey Ford, Kristen Stewart
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Kip
...
...
Rex
...
Deb
...
...
...
Don
...
Bracken Johnson ...
Carmen Brady ...
Starla
...
J.C. Cunningham ...
Jock #1
James Stevens ...
Jock #2 (as James Smooth)
Edit

Storyline

Preston, Idaho's most curious resident, Napoleon Dynamite, lives with his grandma and his 32-year-old brother (who cruises chat rooms for ladies) and works to help his best friend, Pedro, snatch the Student Body President title from mean teen Summer Wheatley. Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

friend | high school | class | mustache | girl | See more »

Taglines:

Same planet...different flippin' world. See more »

Genres:

Comedy

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements and language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

27 August 2004 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Bus otoko  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£60,839 (UK) (10 December 2004)

Gross:

$44,540,956 (USA) (4 February 2005)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

|

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was edited in producer Jeremy Coon's apartment using a $6,000 Macintosh with Final Cut Pro. See more »

Goofs

When Napoleon throws the grapefruit at Uncle Rico's van, it clearly bounces off the windshield, yet in the next shot it is still stuck on the windshield. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Kid on Bus: What are you gonna do today, Napoleon?
Napoleon Dynamite: Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh!
See more »

Crazy Credits

The opening credits are made entirely of various items such as plates of food, a notebook, pencils, and a roll of chapstick. See more »

Connections

Spoofs Taxi Driver (1976) See more »

Soundtracks

"We're Going to be Friends"
Written by Jack White
Performed by The White Stripes
Courtesy of Third Man Records/V2 Records/XL Recordings
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
You have to "get it" before you find it funny. And it is VERY funny.
30 December 2004 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

The love/hate reactions I've seen do not surprise me at all. This movie is very different, it's own style... and it is PURE GENIUS. But it's definitely not for everyone... you have to back off and understand the mood and general feel of the movie before you have the context to find the actions of the characters funny. Then you will "get it". And what is this context I'm referring to? This movie explores the very essence of boredom and mediocrity as you follow the daily life of a dorky guy doing uninteresting things in a small, unexciting town. Napolean's constant, open-mouth, blank stare says, "I'm only tolerating this monotonous existence because I've got nothing better to do." It took me about 15 minutes into the movie and then I GOT it. The movie has no real plot because it isn't about an interesting story, it's about the real life that exists BETWEEN the interesting stories. Ever call up your bud because you're bored, then talk about what you're not doing, then decide to get together and be bored together, and spend the remainder of the evening trying to think of something to do to no avail? This movie is about this very type of thing... a tribute to the ordinary every-day stuff that you have no reason or desire to remember... like eating reheated leftover Hamburger Helper, or that old shirt you wear when you're working that you're not afraid to get dirty, or some magazine you flipped through to pass the time in the dentist's waiting room.

I constantly found myself saying, "This all seems too strangely familiar. I knew a guy like that. I've done stuff like that. I've been to a store like that. I've been in a house like that." This isn't the kind of movie to make you suddenly laugh out loud, it's a movie that will first make you chuckle, and then chuckle some more, and pretty soon you can't stop laughing as scenes and characters continuously remind you about the absurdity of watching random, stupid pointlessness. Why would something boring be interesting to watch? You'll just have to see it to understand.


151 of 209 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
TERRIBLE Theusualguy
Where are my Idahoans at? ThatJustHappened
I want to test a theory about this movie.... jdspock2
Delete your post Napoleon-style Isnam777
6.9 Are you kidding me? buttercupjacob
Most Accurate Film Depiction of High School Ever poshko
Discuss Napoleon Dynamite (2004) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?