Napoleon Dynamite is the kind of movie that rewards repeat viewings, thanks to some very
subtle jokes and hints.
There are plenty of odd details you just can't catch the first time around because you're
too distracted by all of the other odd details.
Here are a few.
When we first meet Kip, it doesn't seem like he's particularly honest about how he spends
his time:
"Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day."
In fact, Kip notes that it's one babe in particular who he spends hours talking to.
Late in the film, we finally meet Kip's lady love, LaFawnduh, who arrives on a bus and
quickly becomes an inseparable part of Kip's life.
Kip and LaFawnduh are clearly different in just about every way, but they're able to
start a relationship surprisingly well.
It's actually quite touching on some level, but since Kip was also bragging to Napoleon
about another lie:
"Besides, we both know that I'm training to become a cage fighter."
"Since when, Kip?
You have the worst reflexes of all time."
"Try and hit me Napoleon."
We're left to wonder: what exactly did Kip tell LaFawnduh about himself to get her interested
in the first place?
From the moment we first see Uncle Rico, it becomes clear that he's an unusual man.
He spends a lot of his downtime throwing footballs and recording himself doing quarterback moves
on his camcorder.
Rico is a man pining for the glory days when he was a high school star with prospects,
but it turns out his particular delusions of grandeur sometimes reach dangerous heights.
"How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?
Yeah."
Uncle Rico is desperate enough to believe that he can purchase a device that will allow
him to travel through time.
It's alarming that this delusional man has been placed in charge of two young relatives,
one of whom is still in high school.
He might have the best intentions, and he might have some profound sadness in his life,
but Uncle Rico is frighteningly out of touch with reality.
Speaking of that time machine, we get to see it in action when Napoleon discovers it laying
out on the dining room table and opts to give it a try.
After reading the instructions, Napoleon has Kip plug the device in.
He's immediately and violently electrocuted until his brother pulls the plug.
What makes the scene a little disturbing actually comes at the moment when Kip lets a smile
cross his face as Napoleon writhes in pain.
Siblings will fight, and we've all been guilty of laughing just a little too much when a
friend or relative was injured in some minor way, but Kip's smile here feels slightly creepy.
Did he know the time machine wouldn't really hurt Napoleon that much?
Did he just not care?
Is he slightly sociopathic?
We'll never know.
Pedro is a character who stands out in the landscape of Napoleon's high school.
This is part of what draws Napoleon to him, but it also creates a strange relationship
between Pedro and other adults and students at the school.
It reaches its apex late in the film, when Summer is giving her student body president
speech:
"Who wants to eat chiminy-changas next year?
Not me.
See, with me, it'll be summer all year long."
It's an obvious reference to Pedro's Mexican heritage, and it's part of a pattern of casual
racism that lingers at various points in the film.
Be nicer to Pedro, people!
The film's most famous scene occurs during the student body president assembly.
Pedro, in need of a skit to support his candidacy, is ready to give up, but then Napoleon shows
off his sweet dance moves to the tune of Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat."
It's a classic moment of 2000s cinema, and it's largely thanks to LaFawnduh, who, upon
learning Napoleon is interested in dance, tosses him an unmarked cassette and tells
him that her cousin made it.
Now, that could just be a mix tape that her cousin made, but we're given no label to tell
us that.
So, keeping in mind that this is a stretch… is LaFawnduh's cousin Jamiroquai?
Uncle Rico is a man with a many flaws.
He's constantly looking to the past, he's a bully to Napoleon, he enlists Kip as a pawn
in his schemes, and he also happens to be a bit of an egotistical liar.
As the film goes on, though, his sleazier side sometimes takes a turn toward the full-blown
creepy.
Yes, his delusions often make him into a buffoon, but consider various incidents in the film
that escalate nearer to the end.
He tries to get Trisha and Summer to try his breast enhancement scheme, then corners Deb
at her photo studio, tells her to call him "Uncle Rico," and passes her a brochure while
lying that it was Napoleon's idea.
Then, of course, there's the moment with Rex's wife Starla.
"I don't feel comfortable reading this."
"Oh, that's fine, that's fine.
But do you feel comfortable with me?"
Finally, the post-credits scene puts the icing on the creepy cake when he sniffs LaFawnduh's
garter after catching it at the wedding.
It's played for laughs, but it's also pretty unnerving.
Early in the film, Napoleon helps to establish his particular brand of awkwardness by telling
Pedro that he doesn't have "any skills," lamenting that he's not a martial arts master or computer
hacker, though he is able to draw a little.
But as the story unfolds, Napoleon just keeps proving himself wrong.
At the FFA competition, he's able analyze milk correctly with almost no hesitation.
He's able to learn the dance that wins the election for Pedro in a matter of days simply
by practicing diligently.
Then, he reveals his fishing skills.
"I caught you a delicious bass."
And in the post-credits scene, he's tamed the horse Kip and LaFawnduh are supposed to
ride away on.
It's a heartwarming ending; the film proves that Napoleon does indeed have skills.
He just has to go on a journey to realize what they are.
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