Unsung said:
Are you insane?
Where's all this hate for ND coming from? It's still one of my favorite films. It's sweet, heartwarming, and hilarious.
Also, comparing ND to Death of a Salesman is like comparing Legally Blonde to The Glass Menagerie: it's retarded.
I only regret watching City of Angels. For my defense, I was forced to watch it.
A) I found the central conflict lacking, the characterization weak, the jokes unfunny, and the movie's attempt at storytelling to be at odds with its attempts at comedy[footnote]more to the point, it felt like it wanted us to empathize with the protagonists but put more effort into mocking them than developing them[/footnote]. If you disagree and feel the need to voice disagreement, I'll thank you very much for stating your reasons rather than simply calling me 'insane' for holding a contrary opinion.
B) Perhaps I should clarify. I was not making a direct comparison of the two. As you noted, on their own you might as well try to compare Jackass to West Side Story. What I was trying to convey was that it felt like Napoleon Dynamite was
trying to be Death of a Salesman but didn't understand what it needed to capture to succeed in its apparent goal. I felt that they put a great deal of effort into trying to make the protagonists seem as pathetic as Willy Loman, but didn't understand that a pathetic nature alone does not make a character compelling. Willy as a character is compelling because of how his nature clashes with his self-image and how both relate to the American Dream. Napoleon, on the other hand...is pathetic, knows it or doesn't care, and the story doesn't go anywhere with any of that. It's simply a given. In essence, it felt like ND was trying to tell a similar narrative but didn't try to understand the very tale they were using as a base. I hope that clarifies things.