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Nacho, the friar, defies church to wrestle on behalf of orphans in 'Nacho Libre'
"Nacho Libre" Running time: 90 mins. MPAA rating: PG Grade: C+
In "Nacho Libre," Jack Black ("The School of Rock," Tenacious D) teams up with "Napoleon Dynamite" director Jared Hess to tell the story of a Mexican friar who secretly disobeys his superiors to pursue his lifelong dream of being a luchadore, a masked wrestler.
Black, of course, plays Nacho the friar, a naive-yetwell meaning fellow who spends his days scrounging for beans and stale nacho chips to feed the orphans in the friars' care. Nacho is not the best cook in the world and frequently catches flak from his superiors about the quality of the food.
After an incident where Nacho's cooking is soundly insulted, he storms off in a huff vowing to find a "duty" he is good at. He hooks up with an emaciated beggar/thief named Esqueleto (the hilarious Hector Jimenez), and they decide to try their luck at wrestling.
In their first match they get the stuffing beat out of them by two hairy midgets who more resemble dogs than humans. To Nacho and Esqueleto's surprise, the promoter pays them. They realize, win or lose, they'll get paid. At first, Nacho uses his winnings to buy lavish food for the orphanage, but when the ber-hot Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera) joins the orphanage's staff, Nacho's priorities shift away from Good Works to Vanity as he begins buying ruffly shirts and fancy white ankle boots to make himself more attractive.
Through a bizarre series of events, Nacho eventually finds himself in a position to fight Mexico's greatest professional wrestler. He must make a choice: Who or what is he fighting for? Fame? The Orphans? The affections of a nun?
"Nacho Libre" is at times a very funny movie. It is also a surprisingly sweet film, which is where the movie is the bumpiest. Jack Black does an OK job playing the innocent Nacho, but there are too many times when he lapses into the same Jack Black schtick we've seen him do over the years. It doesn't fit the character of Nacho.
If Black were more secure and confident in his acting, "Nacho Libre" would be destined to be another cult classic like "Napoleon Dynamite" or "The Big Lebowski." Unfortunately, the film ends up being a lot less than it should've been.
(c) 2006 King Features Synd.,
Inc.
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