DVD Commentary Review: Napoleon Dynamite · 4:31am May 31st, 2014
I once heard SpazFox describe this as (paraphrased slightly) the most awesomely family friendly movie. According to the back of the box it's rated G in Mexico and Canada, and PG in America (which is surprising, I usually expect more stringent ratings out of Canada.) Now, productions with "safe" ratings can be entertaining and quite enjoyable. We're pony fans. We know this very, very well. Napoleon Dynamite is a... frankly weird movie. But quite enjoyable. It's like someone took the upper Midwest and threw it in a blender, separated out the weird colors and painted a portrait with them. Nothing about the production was outlandish or extremely strange like many indie productions. It's pure and nice.
Anyhow, to start off the commentators are Director/Co-writer Jared Hess, Producer Jeremy Coon and Actor Jon Heder, who plays Napoleon. The three fellows sound very much alike, so listening to the commentary can get a bit confusing. On the plus side, Jon occasionally does his Napoleon voice so he can be picked out of the commentary.
Much like the slow-paced and meandering movie itself, the commentators are low key and meandering. They're like the understated version of the "Hoodwinked" guys. Rather than brash and rapid-fire, these guys are cool and relaxed. But like them, they're not Hollywood people. They're folks from the sticks that made good.
As the best commentators do, they really follow the movie carefully, and will occasionally try to back themselves up if they miss something they also want to comment on. Plus they really seem to enjoy doing the commentary. They aren't raucous or wild but the enjoyment and humor are very clearly there. They don't regard the commentary as a painful duty but a genuine chance to discuss their creation. The pride and love for what they made really comes through.
The stories themselves are as sedate as the ones telling them, so they are ordinary but engaging. The most "Hollywood" story they tell is about how they got the rights to music by The White Stripes, by writing to Jack White and explaning what their movie was about. The power of an indie movie.
In all, listening to the commentary is like watching the movie. There are occasional lulls, but the whole movie can feel like a series of enjoyable lulls. The background information really enhances the movie, because it gives an insight into just how real the movie is, from decorations to happenings. That almost makes the weird happenings weirder. The fact that they're not just plausible but really happened makes them all the more unreal and odd. That's some good commentary, when it makes the movie even more enjoyable.
Commentary Score: 8/10
