It’s like Napoleon Dynamite gobbled Garden State and Little Miss Sunshine, chased ‘em with a Michael Gondry video, then chundered all over New Zealand. Flight of the Conchords genius Jemaine Clement plays the mulleted, emotionally damaged Napoleon Dynamite figure. Loren Horsley plays Lily, the awkward, martyred cousin of any number of Toni Collette characters. The two stumble through that crazy thing called love.
While the mesmerizing Kiwi dialect and Lily’s pluck, sweetness, and stunning green eyes have undeniable charm, they are not enough to carry the movie. If you enjoy Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, Garden State, and Anderson, Wes (or P.T. circa Punch-Drunk Love), you will dig Eagle vs Shark. I did not. Harrumph.
File under “Trailer suffices, thankyouverymuch”
***
Napoleon Dynamite was OK, a few good laughs. We actively enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine (how can you resist “Cat Walking, Baby” ~ got that stuck in your head for the rest of the day, haven’t I?). The whole family is frothing to watch Wes Anderson’s upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox (the featurette trailer on Apple’s site or the movie’s site that includes interviews with Roald Dahl’s wife is mesmerizing and reminiscent of WETA). I think you’ve convinced us about this one, though.
We’re on a movie watching streak right now. Steve had to upgrade to 2 DVDs per month from Netflix temporarily in order to get Andrew & me through Season 2 of Numb3rs by Thanksgiving so that we can have a Numb3rs orgy over Andrew’s 5-day break watching Season 3 via Roku! Tonight we’re going to see The Hurt Locker (indie bomb squad in Iraq thriller by a woman director) at the dollar theater and Saturday we’re going to a matinee (hey, we’re cheap) of The Blind Side (unless it gets utterly trashed on Friday by the NYT and Salon). I’m a sucker for those true inspiring sports movies (Breaking Away, Hoosiers, Remember the Titans) and Sandra Bullock as a sassy, hard-ass, tough-love Southern Belle floats my boat.
As Gene Siskel used to say, “See you at the Movies!”