“ Despite a super-duper happy ending that injects some Hollywood-style “warmth” and positivity into the proceedings, the cult of Napoleon Dynamite remains inaccessible and inexplicable to me. Forget Anderson and Korine: A better analog might be Jay Leno, a comedian who’s built an empire by encouraging his audience to laugh at the yokels rather than identify with them. The characters in Hess’ film are like otherworldly figures in glassed-in display cases; these exotic beings sure do crazy things, yet we can walk away assured that they aren’t us. Sweet. „
Scott Tobias is as baffled by Napoleon Dynamite’s appeal as I am.
