NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

The much-loved and oft-quoted surprise breakout 2004 indie hit NAPOLEON DYNAMITE helped define a generation that most pundits didn’t even know existed, giving life to a cavalcade of offbeat heroes, none more indelible than the huffing, whiny, constantly annoyed title character.

Napoleon (Jon Heder) is a damaged, difficult, dramatic teen, avoided by his peers and ignored by his appropriately bizarre family. This being a teen comedy (in the loosest sense), we are fully conditioned to expect an unsuccessful social makeover that leads to a cathartic understanding of self. In truth, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE hardly strays from that archetype. What makes the film so indelible is that Napoleon actively shapes the world to accept him, rather than the other way around.

A truly essential teen film, and an utter delight from start to finish, the deliriously entertaining cult classic NAPOLEON DYNAMITE will screen on its twentieth anniversary under the stars at Hole 1 of The Marrickville Golf Club in what will surely be a highlight of this year’s Inner West Film Fest.

​

​“From its appetising opening credit sequence to its heart-toasting climax, Napoleon Dynamite is a silly, quirky, excursion into middle-American eccentricity.” — Simon Pegg | The Guardian