Blah blah, Jack Black, blah blah Napolean Dynamite

Rating: 2/10 (9 August 2006)

I'll boil this down for you to make it nice and simple. If you theenk that a fat greengo talkeeng like thees ees funny, then yoo wheel love thees feelm. Personally, I don't care that this movie is racist, even though it clearly is; Mr Black is no more convincing as an hombre than he would be as a brutha. But that's not the flaw. The flaw is that it's both dumb and dull. Either one alone could be rescued, but together they suck the life out of it. Sweet, OK, but if I wanted sweet, I'd be watching "Annie". This is supposed to be a comedy. Where are the laughs?
There's no overall narrative drive, and each scene drags out just a little too long. Rather than looking forward to the next scene in anticipation, it's more a sense of relief that the current one is finished. The writing is sloppy, and relies far too much on Black carrying the film, a task which is just beyond him. In terms of production values, it reminded me of a Xena episode, but without the joie de vivre. To stick with the Raimi theme, Black is no Bruce Campbell.
I would strongly advise against paying to see this movie, unless you really, truly, can't find anything better to do.