NERDS HAVE A NEW EMPEROR

REVIEWED - NAPOLEON DYNAMITE: Jared Hess's début plays like the work of a film-maker who, having enjoyed the early work of Todd Solondz, decided that, rather than try to develop his own similarly individual voice, he would simply make a movie in the style of his hero, writes Donald Clarke

Like a surprising number of films that believe themselves to be original, it features a simple-minded protagonist seriously out-of-step with his cooler - though not all that cool in this case - high-school classmates. This does not sound like something we need.

Yet, against the odds, Napoleon Dynamite - the hero's name was one of Elvis Costello's alter egos - is something of a triumph. Most of the credit is due to lead actor Jon Heder, who, resisting the temptation to invest Napoleon with any undue pathos, gives us a full-blown, unremittingly deluded idiot. Even his posture is impressive. With his shirt tucked into his pants and his head cast to one side, Heder gets across Napoleon's terminal hopelessness even before we hear his monotonous, exasperated voice.

The picture takes place in the (on this evidence) grim Idaho town of Preston. When his tearaway grandmother breaks her coccyx (a bone that comedy writers never tire of), the orphaned Napoleon is forced to play host to his useless Uncle Rico, whose life is taken up with bittersweet memories of youthful triumphs on the football field. Also knocking about the place is the hero's über-nerd of a brother, Kip, who, though clearly in his thirties, is perhaps the least mature person in this unhinged household.

Any further summary of the plot will only serve to confirm the director's taste for whackiness and repel readers who have already had quite enough of this sort of thing from the generation of film-makers that grew up on David Lynch. Don't be put off.

Napoleon Dynamite is the funniest film in its genre we have seen for some time. And, at only 25, Hess, who, interestingly, comes from a Mormon background, has plenty of time to find a more singular style.