Nacho Libre
Jack Black is one of those actors that has a hard time stepping away from a particular character type. King Kong gave him a small opportunity to cut his dramatic teeth, but he ultimately returns to goofy smiles and pratt falls a la Jerry Lewis in Nacho Libre. From the same director that brought you Napolean Dynamite, Nacho Libre is the story of a guy, stuck in a dead end job who reaches out to grab a piece of his lifelong dream. In this case though, his dead end job is as a Mexican monk and his dream is in the ring as a masked wrestler known as Luchadores.
Brother Ignacio (Black) has spent most of his life as a dedicated, but unhappy cook for the orphans of a monestary in rural Mexico. Since childhood, Ignacio has all but idolized the masked luchadores and yearns to be one. After getting fed up with disrespect from the other monks, a lack of fresh food for the children and a forbidden crush on a young new teacher, Ignacio enlists the help of a loner from the streets to become a wrestiling team as Nacho Libre and Esquelito.
Most of the humor comes from slapstick sillines and over the top wrestiling characters and their moves. A training montage involve such exercises as cantaloupe slingshot to the chest and pass the hornest nest, which clearly has nothing to do with wrestling, but makes for a few quick laughs. On par with the kind of zanyness you would expect to see in a Nickelodeon production, Nacho Libre is good clean humor and actually teaches a lesson about humility and helping others before helping yourself, which is admirable without being preachy.
The downside to this kiddy appeal though is the cookie cutter fart jokes (which are frequent, but not overwhelming) and slow moments where basic concepts are drawn out so that kids are able to keep pace with the rest of the audience. Still, the film has some genuine belly laughs, its just not anything really new. Jack Black fans will immediately be drawn to the School House Rock type of enthusiasm from the actor (despite an awful stereotypical spanish accent) and Napolean Dynamite fans will enjoy the dead-pan delivery of comedic lines. Take the family, just keep an eye on the kids. I already fear the ‘imitatable acts’ lawsuits on the horizon.
