Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

this is a very bizarre movie. interestingly enough, they translated it in Japan as "Bus Otoko" (the bus guy) as a reference to Densha Otoko (it's easier for people here to relate to that title as opposed to the more difficult Napolean Dynamite title). part of the bizarreness of this movie is because of the stupor people seem to be in. part of that might be due to how it's supposedly a depiction of some midwest type of town. in some ways, it seems like the movie asks what happens if you stick the typical nerd (or nerds if you include Kip) into a midwest town and how they would handle themselves. the typical nerd in this movie isn't so typical. Napolean isn't the type that's flaunting computer games but he's very involved in drawing fantasy art and apparently has a strong interest in some format of Dungeons and Dragons. he's uncle/cousin/brother/father figure, Kip, is more of the typical alienated nerd, chatting online with his love interest. i think part of the fascination (for me at least) for this show is due to the fact that it's not really linear. you can't initially predict what people are going to do. no expectations are setup. it's very quiet and things kinda happen. the plot is extremely simple: Napolean wants to help his friend win the school election. around him are all these bizarre midwestern folk that apparently are attempting to depict the midwest. you get farmers, the typical jocks/school bullies, hot popular women, and loser uncle. it's a very bizarre mix of people that exist together more out of coincidence and proximity than by force of nature. yet i suppose some people can relate to this movie because of the issues one may find in school. for instance, the bullies who try to grab money from smaller kids. in the case of Napolean, his response is interesting especially since he seems to depict the nerd archtype. his responses outside of calling people "Idiots!" are pretty much apathetic. some may say disaffected. he doesn't show emotion in almost any condition. even when he's beat up, the only thing we can understand is that his jaw hurts from a beating. but he doesn't demonstrate any sense of regret or self pity. and the bullies seem to ignore him for the most part. one part that i liked was an interesting affirmation of the chicano gangster type. somehow because of napolean's friendship with Pedro, Napolean is allowed to intermingle with Pedro's seemingly gangster friends/family members. during the election process, Napolean gives one bullied kid a token and mentions that Pedro would offer his protection services. as the kid was about to get mugged for his bike by a bully, Pedro's relatives pull up in their low rider and scare him off. this movie somewhat reminded me of Dazed and Confused as well as slackers. although the movie does climax in a more Hollywood happy-ending type of format with Pedro winning the elections after Napolean performs a slick dance and Kip gets married to a gorgeous black woman (another bizarre moment), the general feeling of this movie is disaffection and alienation as well as this non-linear, somewhat irrelevant feeling that persist. i think part of the way they filmed the show was to help characterize these types of people by showing cuts of life. for instance, the part where Napolean is earning money through moving chickens around on a farm or the section where he's eating a sandwich (covered by flies) and drinking a raw egg protein potion. scenes like that are extremely odd and end up going nowhere, but you get a sense of the feeling for being out there, if that's the intent. i have to admit that i was pleasantly surprised by this type of movie. i do believe it was originally released as an independent. that more than anything probably had to do with my liking of the movie as usual hollywood crap would never dare to venture into the realm of real postmodernity type of filming. whether or not the characters and environment for this movie are possible is irrelevant to me. it's the filming style and sensation conjured up through the non-linear design and deadbeat environment that paradoxically bring this movie to life.