taika cohen's EAGLE VS SHARK (2007)

it's not hard to see why the dry, perversely sweet Eagle Vs Shark elicited scads of Napoleon Dynamite comparisons: overdesigned, undercooked, and undeniably charming, both films half-mockingly celebrate social retardation where most prefab indies stop short at simple dysfunction. but in the end both films also fall victim to the same trap: like Napoleon and his clan, both Lily and Jarrod are far too affected and caricaturish to make an emotional connection with, or even really like; the most that can be said is that we only root for Lily to end up with the childish, unlikable Jarrod because it's clear he's probably the best she can do.