A torturously funny film that is amazingly accurate in its portrayal of life in a
Mormon town. Most of the smaller towns in the Rocky-mountian west are predominantly
Mormon.
Although it doesn't say it in the movie, Napoleon is a
Mormon kid.
The clues are everywhere. His "Ricks College" t-shirt is a dead give away. Ricks College is a
Mormon school, (now called BYU Idaho). The second-hand store where Napoleon shops is one store in a whole chain of stores scattered throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada called "Deseret Industries", (pronounced Des..err...et) or "DI" for short, and is owned and operated by the
Mormon Church.
Napoleon talks about scout camp. The Boy Scout program is almost single-handedly run by the
Mormon (LDS) Church in the west, and is a very significant part of their development program for boys. The director and his co-writer wife are
Mormon, so is the actor who plays Napoleon. Most of the cast/crew are from Brigham Young University, (BYU)and most of the cool words that Napoleon uses like flip and gosh have been used by
Mormon kids for decades.
Even the liger has roots in growing up in the
Mormon west...the liger was a real half-lion half-tiger that actually lived for many years at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, and is well known to legions of
Mormon kids who went to Hogle Zoo on field trips. After it died it was stuffed and mounted and is still on display at the zoo.
Though no-fault of the director, (the film is loosely based on his life in Preston) much of the deeply subtle humor in the movie is only caught by those familiar with
Mormon culture. Napoleons clothes and the furniture in his house for instance, are all "total DI".
All in all, a "funny as heck" movie that can be enjoyed by all and is well worth seeing whoever and whatever you are.
