Tapawingo (2024)

"I was just walking home from school and the harassment began."

Director
Dylan K. Narang

Cast
Jon Heder - Nate Skoog
Kim Matula - Gretchen
Jay Pichardo - Will Luna
Sawyer Williams - Oswalt
Amanda Bearse - Ramona Skoog
John Ratzenberger - Tom Roan
Gina Gershon - Dot

George Psarras - Glenn Gratton 

Paul Psarras - Ben Gratton
Billy Zane - Stoney Tarwater
Chad Dukes - Nelson Tarwater
Jacob Tyler Kemp - Philip Tarwater

I think the 2004 movie "Napoleon Dynamite," directed by Jared Hess, is overall an original funny movie despite my initially trying to figure out what the point of it was. As I mentioned in my previous comments about "Napoleon Dynamite", the movie's appeal comes the relatability younger audiences find with the story and characters, especially when it comes to the awkward quirks of teenager and high school life. The humor, the quotable lines, and the likeability of Napoleon and the other characters makes it appealing. 

While I found the pacing a bit weird and the general plot of "Napoleon Dynamite" attempting to help his buddy, Pedro, get elected as student body president over at Preston High School tacked on in the middle of the movie, "Napoleon Dynamite" is a film about how loyal this odd teenage kid, played by Jon Heder, is to his friends. But the biggest take away for me is its quirky humor and memorable characters.  

I bring up "Napoleon Dynamite" because I couldn't help noticing that the 2024 movie "Tapawingo," written by Brad DeMarea and Dylan K. Narang, and directed by Dylan K. Narang is similar in style and tone. Even the movie's deliberately eclectic, retro synth-pop sounding soundtrack, mixed with a little jukebox variety of rock tunes is similar to that of "Napoleon Dynamite." Plus, "Tapawingo" also stars Jon Heder in the lead role.

In this movie, Heder plays Nate Skoog, a 30-something year old guy living in a small Midwest town with his protective mother, Ramona (Amanda Bearse) and works a dead-end job in a mail room. He regularly attends his tornado watch class and is a devoted reader "Mercenary International Quarterly" magazine which he checks out at the public library. He's also a little miffed that Ramona's new boyfriend, Tom (John Ratzenberger) is inching his way into his life as he moves in with Ramona.

Jon Heder and Jay Pichardo in "Tapawingo."

The mundanity of Nate's day-to-day life changes when his boss asks him to pick up his son Oswalt (Sawyer Williams) each day from school. So, he gets into his car - something between a hot rod and a dune buggy or go-cart - and gives Oswalt a lift. 

At Oswalt's request, he drops him off at Gretchen's (Kim Matula) house as he's tutoring her. She's a 

the non-conformist type, to say the least. But she still wants good grades!

Nate is instantly smitten by Gretchen and her subversive demeanor and no-crap attitude. 

Meanwhile, Nate takes it upon himself to protect Oswalt from his bullies, seeing it as an opportunity to utilize his mercenary knowledge and tactics. 

He convinces his buddy and fellow "mercenary" Will Luna (Jay Pichardo) to assist in taking down Oswalt's bullies. 

He also seeks the aid of two awkward brothers, Glenn (George Psarras) and Ben Gratton (Paul Psarras) who pride themselves in being experts in fighting and combat. They're both all too eager to help. It's an opportunity to show off their skills and tactics, and do some good.

And these aren't just any bullies. They're the town's notorious family of bullies, the Tarwaters. 

What starts as Nate's simple warning leads to a huge confrontation Nate isn't completely prepared for but takes on anyways. It's a matter of principle, and love. 

Very much to its credit, "Tapawingo" has a much more solid storyline compared to "Napolean Dynamite." I should mention both movies are unrelated despite similarities in style.  

The film blends quirky humor with sincere small-town charm as this unhopeful crew takes on a crew of tough guys who are much too sure of themselves.

It also has an abundance of deadpan humor, dark with a mundane absurd element that's hilarious to watch because the characters are sincere and take themselves seriously which brings laughs. The whole situation is depicted believably as everyday life in this town. 

Though it's a comedic style very similar to "Napoleon Dynamite," I found myself laughing much more with "Tapawingo." I hate to keep comparing the two movies, but I couldn't help think "Tapawingo" would have made a great sequel. The characters could have easily been pulled out from Preston, Idaho, where "Napoleon Dynamite" was filmed. "Tapawingo" even utilizes similar wide shots and camera angels. Nevertheless, even as it is, it's an appealing comedy. And I liked it better!

The "dark" element flows from the seemingly failed ambitions and emotional detachment save for

Kim Matula as "Gretchen" in "Tapawingo."

Nate's concern for Oswalt. There's also social rot with Gretchen's general rebellious disdain, and the Tarwaters overall callous demeanor they share as a family. 

They strike me as a more frustrated family in this smalltown who are forced to be the way they are because there's not much else for them to amount to. 

Nate and the rest of the characters have the same issue, but deal with their frustrations differently. 

Nate's enchantment over Gretchen, is hilarious. Plus, there's some elements to all of it that I didn't see coming!

John Ratzenberger and Amanda Bearse, both of whom have a very noteworthy acting career, fit their supporting roles perfectly within the tone of the movie. 

Also, Billy Zane stars in this movie as one of the Tarwaters, which cracks me up. It's obvious he's enjoying his role in the movie. 

I was pulled in fairly quickly watching this. It flows satisfyingly well with a welcomed comedic plot that knows what it wants to do rather than trying to find its footing as the story is rolling. It doesn't seem made up on the spot. 

To me, the plot morphs its way to something a little similar to "West Side Story" (or, I guess, "Romeo and Juliet") minus the singing and the pretty feelings. Instead, it's more like "The Bodyguard."

It's slightly predictable but certainly not as much as I thought it would be. I still had to watch it all play out. I wasn't disappointed either even as the movie culminates to a shrug. 

There's a satisfying satirical feel to it. 

Heder is great in this role as he doesn't try to sell the jokes. Rather, he puts the humor in his character's general disappointment in life, living with his mom, and keeping restrained with his mom's boyfriend intruding into his adult life. He uses his signature deadpan delivery hilariously well. And then Gretchen enters his life which gives him something to hope for.

"Tapawingo" is a comedy that deserves to catch on and acquire a large following, even if it slowly obtains all that over time.