That cheese does not belong to you
Nacho Libre
Starring: Jack Black
Director: Jared Hess
Rated PG
My Spanish skills are mediocre at best and I felt a little Nacho Libre would further hone my skills and put me in good stead for a trip to Argentina. Unfortunately, the film is also mediocre at best and carried by Jack Black. One of the funniest lines from my Nacho Libre theater experience came when a man asked someone else what "libre" meant and was met with the answer "wrestling." That comment was about as ignorant as Jared Hess's (Nacho Libre writer/director) last film Napoleon Dynamite. So confused was I about Napoleon Dynamite's success that I wanted to start a facebook group "Napoleon Dynamite sucked except for the dance scene" just to see if there were more like me. The only good thing about Napoleon Dynamite is that an Asian kid during a spelling bee said something about "razor sharp talons" and confounded the judges while getting mad spelling bee props.
Nacho Libre has a much more coherent plot structure than Napoleon and ultimately is a better film, although it lacks the number of easily memorable quotes that will find themselves on t-shirts and in the mouths of the easily influenced. The best parts of the movie came in the form of tights and midgets inside a ring. It's understandable that the best part of a movie about luchadores is the wrestling scenes. I did particularly enjoy the choreography and the hilarity of the midgets with claws getting thrown and then exacting their revenge on Nacho and his sidekick Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez).
As a basic plot line, Nacho met deprivation throughout his entire life. First as an orphan in a monastery, he was deprived of his parents. Then he was deprived of watching the lunchadores, let alone becoming one. Once a padre, he never received any real priestly duties and had to make putrid green soup for the other students, and now he has an unattainable love interest. An attractive nun comes to live in the monastery and steals the heart of the well meaning Nacho. Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera, a Mexican soap opera star) doesn't show as much skin as Jack Black, but since she looks like Penelope Cruz's twin we can empathize with Nacho's attraction.
Ultimately Nacho Libre has a few good moments with lulls filling the gaps. But having Jack Black befriend a fat little orphan and go on to fight midgets and then the biggest baddest luchadore in town does provide for some heartwarming entertainment.
