Napoleon Dynamite Release Date, Cast, Storyline, Plot, And More

Coming-of-age movies and shows have been an old story for ages but nobody does it like Napoleon Dynamite. Napoleon Dynamite is a comedy/ indie film. It was released on 11^th June 2004. The film starred Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, and several other actors. Directed by Jared Hess, the movie was made with a budget of 4 lakhs USD. Despite being a low-budget movie, the movie did remarkably well. It’s a comedy movie but we wouldn’t consider it everybody’s cup of tea. The movie has countless moments that give viewers second-hand embarrassment. Nevertheless, the movie is still iconic with all its irksome moments.

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Napoleon Dynamite Storyline

The film Napoleon Dynamite revolves around a teenager, Napoleon. He tries to help a friend win class presidency while dealing with his own dysfunctional family.

Napoleon Dynamite Cast

The film starred several actors. The cast of Napoleon Dynamite includes:

Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite
Efren Ramirez as Pedro
Jon Gries as Uncle Rico
Aaron Ruell as Kip
Tina Majorino as Deb
Haylie Duff as Summer Wheatly
Shondrella Avery as Lafawnduh
Diedrich Bader as Rex
Sandy Martin as Grandma
Dale Critchlow as Lyle
Carmen Brady as Starla
Emily Dunn as Trisha
Trevor Snarr as Don
Yuka Ruell as Girl on Bike
Bracken Johnson as Randy
Nano De Silva as Cholo #1
Arturo De Silva as Cholo #2
Ellen Dubin as Ilene
Thomas Lefler as Principal Svadean
Pat Donahue as Farmer
Sarah Owen
Elizabeth Miklavcic as Renae
Walter Platz as Cashier
John Swihart
Mary Heers as teacher

Napoleon Dynamite Plot

The film tells the story of Napoleon Dynamite. A tall, awkward teenager, who is depressed and loves to be left alone, he is brought up in a middle-class family. He lives on the outskirts of the town with his brother Kip. Kip, the 32-year-old brother spends most of his time online in chat rooms talking to “hot babes” and taking care of his grandmother. The brothers also have an uncle living with them who has arrived to babysit. Uncle Rico, from the beginning, appears to be a strange man who is out of touch with reality. He is still wishing for a time when he was a football star and had prospects in his life.

As for Napoleon, his life at school is beyond miserable. He is picked up by other kids at school. Somehow, he manages to make a friend finally. Pedro is the only Latino kid in school who becomes Napoleon’s friend. He himself is a shy boy.

Napoleon manages Pedro’s campaign for the class presidency.

Deb is an amateur photographer who also sells handmade key chains door-to-door. Napoleon has a crush on Deb but he doesn’t know how to approach her correctly. Every time he does something for her or to get her attention, it had the opposite result. He’s so inept at this, that he makes Deb go to the prom with Pedro.

The movie ends with Pedro winning the class presidency. It’s revealed that Kip who mentioned earlier in the movie, that he spent his time chatting with “babes” all day, had actually been talking to one woman in particular. Kip’s lady love, that one woman he was chatting with, LaFawnduh, is revealed at the end of the movie. Throughout the movie, Uncle Rico appears as a disturbing side character that has strange schemes of getting “rich fast” or sometimes buying a “time machine sort of gadget”. There’s a mystery surrounding the movie with characters that appear strange and sometimes borderline creepy. But, it’s certainly meant to entertain you if you ignore its strangeness and focus on other elements like the dialogues and portrayal of a teenager who is so socially inept living with a dysfunctional family.