Napoleon Dynamite may not even be friggin' sweet, but it does have skills. 
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Groucho Reviews
Latest Film Reviews
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Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Napoleon Dynamite may not even be friggin' sweet, but it does have skills. -
Sideways (2004)
In vino veritas...Payne has supplanted the Coen Brothers as a reliable purveyor of smart comedy -
Changeling (2008)
A fascinating true-crime story, elegant period detail, and Clint Eastwood's consummate filmmaking technique mask [that]...Changeling lacks enough grit and intellect to convert moody melodrama into thoughtful drama. -
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Pulls off the trick of the feel-good movie in a way movies haven't managed in a long time. -
Clerks II (2006)
Makes a surprisingly convincing case for Dante and Randal as characters worthy of a revisit once a decade. -
Fanboys (2009)
If you want to hear characters talk to each other in Star Wars dialogue, I've got a couple of trilogies for you. -
Soul Men (2008)
Soul Men may get by on novelty, but what novelty! -
Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Problematic as a narrative...[but] Lee's simply too smart and talented to make a dismissible film. -
America the Beautiful (2008)
The film's examination of our beauty-obsessed culture—however familiar—remains unfortunately necessary. -
RENT: Filmed Live on Broadway (2008)
Specially filmed in the final days, this version of RENT may not be definitive, but it certainly has sentimental value and...presents the unexpurgated play. -
Drumline (2002)
A most unusual musical...Learning something from his subject, Stone gives the picture a snappy rhythm. -
Unfaithful (2002)
Works precisely because it is so upsetting, unusually so for a studio film, and so empathetic for Connie at the hands of her attractive manipulator. -
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Americans shouldn't have to feel comfortable with the thought of kicking back and having a beer with their President, but it's not a bad criterion for a comedy filmmaker, and Smith is that guy. -
RocknRolla (2008)
Breaks no new ground for movies or for Ritchie, but it is an amusing diversion and therefore a return to form. -
Antwone Fisher (2002)
Rings false, belittling instead of honoring its sensitive subject with its twinkly score, kid-glove nobility and cloying payoffs. -
Pride and Glory (2008)
Relentlessly dour, filled with unsympathetic characters, and made out of cardboard melodrama. It's the last of those sins that is unforgivable. -
Being There (1980)
Whether Being There is an indictment of our narrow view of the world, a celebration of empty-headedness or all of the above, "Life is a state of mind," and Ashby's film is a gift to treasure. -
Caligula (1979)
More infamous for its widespread ineptitude than for its artistic innovation... -
Wendy and Lucy (2008)
America is about to see a sharp upturn in hard-luck stories, which makes Kelly Reichardt’s small-scale drama Wendy and Lucy sadly timely. -
New in Town (2009)
The recipe of New in Town isn't secret, and it tastes like pablum to me. -
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Perhaps the greatest compliment to be paid to Vicky Cristina Barcelona is that it serves as a spot-on emblem of Allen's own life philosophy: cling to the transient pleasures, as you're bound to be let down in the end. -
The Rocker (2008)
Utterly predictable, formulaic, but not entirely unamusing. -
Open Season 2 (V) (2009)
Works up decent comic energy, if few actual funny jokes, but we know we've been suckered when we arrive at...yet another animated sing-along to a bygone pop hit. -
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
A shaggy dog of a movie that will appeal big-time to its young target audience...Juno meets After Hours. -
Election (1999)
A funny and horrifying allegory of American politics and adult society, as seen through the prism—or shall we say "prison"?—that is secondary education. -
Dexter: The First Season (2006)
The Showtime series Dexter challenges comfortable assumptions about human nature...a winningly novelistic narrative. -
Lakeview Terrace (2008)
The race-baiting thriller Lakeview Terrace is exactly what you would expect from a screenplay by a Hollywood hack and an established playwright: some sharp dialogue grafted onto a credibility-stretching and familiar plot. -
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Jovovich brings an intensity to the role well-matched to Besson's stylistic energy, though this comic-bookish take on Jeanne D'Arc won't be winning any historical-society awards. -
Zodiac (2007)
Reverent docudrama...to those completely unfamiliar with the case, Zodiac should be every bit as satisfying as a true-crime paperback. -
King Kong (2005)
Peter Jackson's King Kong is all things cinema, in the hands of a clever but overindulged filmmaker. -
El Norte (1984)
On the surface El Norte is the essence of simplicity. But in 1983, the simple story was both news to many and history to many others finally seeing their story depicted on screen on their terms. -
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
The hero is named for a disgusting bodily function that's hardly PG material, but the movie itself seems to be aimed at grade schoolers. -
The Last Emperor (1987)
Works the brain in two-part harmony: the melody skids effortlessly across the historical timeline of the Ching dynasty, China's last, and the harmony part is all aesthetic appeal... -
Hulk Vs. (V) (2009)
Marvel's new deal with Madhouse Studio bodes well for the future. The Japanese animation giant...has the chops to produce spectacular, dynamic, colorful, stylish animation (or, rather, anime) that's an evolutionary leap for Marvel on the small screen. -
Che (2008)
A complex production mounted, with confidence and a scrupulous eye for detail, by one of our great American filmmakers. -
Hotel for Dogs (2009)
It's not a TV remake, with pooches playing the parts made famous by James Brolin, Anne Baxter, and Connie Sellecca. Damn. -
Henry Poole is Here (2008)
Despite an excellent performance by Luke Wilson and a promising start, Henry Poole is Here ends up an overindulgent misfire. -
The Express (2008)
Like a biography plucked from the shelf of a grade-school library...includes ample inspiration and sufficient history to get to its destination in "express" fashion. -
Swing Vote (2008)
Would be innocuous if it weren't so utterly, utterly misguided. -
The Bourne Identity (The Bourne Trilogy) (2002)
Liman adds to his knack for controlling audience tension a moody visual sense that exploits the mournful, sleeping-giant, old-world architecture of Prague as a place where action may break out at any moment, and frequently does.