"Napoleon Dyanmite" is just that: dynamite!

Admit it, you have at one time in your life made fun of someone who you simply should not have made fun of. It is inevitable. The most vulnerable are called that because they are an easy, okay even prime, target for comical quips, snickers, and glances. Even though it might not be morally correct, human nature leads us to often times poke fun at those who are easy to poke fun at. Don't even think of acting "holier than thou" on this one, you know I am right.

"Napoleon Dynamite" explores the life of a nerd, simply put. Napoleon (John Heder) is that stereotypical boy that walks the wall of every high school across America. He is the boy who is too uncoordinated to do much on his own, too dorky to carry on a normal conversation with others, and too different to really attract any friends of his own.

The film is completely a comedy film, and there is no other way to watch this film. The daily trials and tribulations of Napoleon are comical to the viewer, and are so far ranging that you can never quite imagine what quick scene or blurb might make you laugh next. Even simple skits of Napoleon calling home to his brother while he is at school asking his brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) to bring him Chap Stick because his lips hurt can be downright hilarious.

Napoleon hails from small town America, living in Preston, Idaho. He shares a home with his grandmother and Kip and needless to say, spends most of his time at the homestead. Napoleon’s grandmother (Sandy Martin) is a dashing elderly woman who leaves the family for a day to go ride ATV's with a group of her new found friends. Clearly, she is seemingly sick and tired of having to baby sit Kip and Napoleon, even though they are more than old enough to care for themselves.

Kip is a rather reclusive nerd, similar to Napoleon, but he takes pleasure in chatting online to women who he is trying to meet. Although his grandmother's phone bill starts racking up the charges, Kip is destined to find his Mrs. Right through a chat room or message board, of sorts. When Kip finally lands his Mrs. Right, his online love LaFawndah comes to meet Kip and the two become smitten from the first glance, although on the outside, they are completely different people. LaFawndah brings out a new and repressed side of Kip and the two begin to act more and more alike. If you have seen this film, then you know what I am talking about, "Word up."

While Napoleon and Kip's grandmother is nursing herself back to health, the two boys' Uncle Rico (John Gries) is sent to care for the boys. Rico is a hot shot in his own mind that gets his jollies off of filming himself launching a football around the yard reminiscing about the football player that he could have been and never turned into. Rico decides that both he and Kip should go into business together and he tries to make a living off of selling the day's top fad. Whether it is the Tupperware they try peddling to neighbors or the herbal breast enhancers that Rico tries selling out of his minivan to teenage girls walking home from school, Rico feels as though he and Kip are destined to be the Ron Poppeil of Preston, Idaho.

Napoleon befriends a Latino student who transfers to the school mid semester by the name of Pedro (Efren Ramirez). Pedro, like Napoleon, is a bit slow and has a hard time really fitting in at the high school. After several failed attempts at winning the hearts of the most beautiful girls on campus by "building them cakes", Pedro sets his eyes on an equally as awkward teenage girl by the name of Deb (Tina Majorino). Deb and Pedro are the perfect nerds for each other, Pedro is awkward and Deb spends a lot of her time in her basement pretending she is the Glamour Shots of Preston, Idaho. Napoleon and Pedro's friendship begins to blossom best when Pedro decides he is going to run for class president against one of the girls who turned down his advances through building her a cake. Napoleon becomes Pedro's campaign manager and perhaps one of the biggest "movers and shakers" on the campaign for Pedro's election.

"Napoleon Dynamite" is supposed to be a glimpse into the high school years of the writer and director of this film, Jared Hess. Preston is Hess' hometown and I have read that Napoleon embodies many of the characteristics that Hess himself maintained in high school as well.

The film is a complete gas and your sides will be hurting from laughing so much by the time the film is over. The conversations that take place between the characters is one of the best parts of the film and when Napoleon speaks to himself, usually in disgust about one of the other characters in the film, his expressions and statements of disapproval are often some of the best lines in the film. Napoleon refrains from swearing in the film, and he instead uses colloquial nerd phrases that simply match his persona perfectly.

The filming of "Napoleon Dynamite" is somewhat grainy, but it adds to the kind of sporadic nature of the plot of the movie. The film is not meant to win any awards for highest quality filming, but in terms of comedy, it really should take home an award of some sort. At times it is hard not to feel bad for Napoleon, but there is also a certain side of him that is simply too awkward to not laugh at. The film is a great comedy and is guaranteed to keep you laughing throughout the film.