Nacho Libre (2006)

Originally Reviewed

Saturday June 17, 2006

It's time once again to look back... yes all the way back to the year 2006. Today I picked up my limited edition copy of Nacho Libre complete with the "while supplies last" special Best Buy edition Nacho Libre mask. The second time around Nacho Libre was as hilarious as the first time, and maybe even a little more. While Nacho Libre doesn't reach Napoleon Dynamite cult status, it's still a very entertaining film.

Jack Black stars as Nacho, an orphan who grew up in the local monastery that houses orphans. Ever since he was a young boy he dreamed of being a Luchador (wrestler) but it was frowned upon by the monks as a sin. So Nacho grew up to become a monk and was given the duties of cooking the food for the children and seeing to meaningless activities that none of the other monks wanted to do. Nacho loved making food for the children but he was never given any money to make anything good, so every meal was consisted of beans.

One day, a lovely sister named Encarnación, arrives to teach the children. Nacho is very smitten by her, and starts to forget some of his problems, but even her arrival can't make his emptiness go away. One evening Nacho travels into the city to pick up some chips for the orphans and he is attacked by a strange, lanky fellow named Esqueleto who steals the orphan’s chips. Nacho is unable to recover the stolen chips, but when he spots a poster advertising amateur wrestling matches with the prize money of 200 pesos he gets a wonderful idea. Nacho returns the next day to lure out Esqueleto and in doing so he proposes that the two of them enter a wrestling match as a tag team, at the mention of the prize money Esqueleto agrees.

So begins the friendship of Nacho & Esqueleto, their first fight is a total disgrace but the crowd loves them. Both are ready to give up on their dream of fame and fortune until they receive a cut of the money. The manager told them that everyone gets a share and they should come back the next week for another fight. This is the inspiration they needed to continue on.

They continue to take on matches, still getting their butts severely kicked but at the same time getting slightly better with each match, and more importantly getting paid. Nacho is now able to provide the children with better food but in turn the money begins to go to his head and it becomes more about him trying to win and become a professional wrestler than it originally was to help the children. Nacho must deal with his losses, continue to try and hide his wrestling from those at the monastery for fear of exile, and at the same time attempt to better himself and his life.

Nacho Libre is very enjoyable, if you’re a fan of Napoleon Dynamite chances are you'll get a kick out of this film. There are many similarities between the two films; Nacho Libre has that similar feel to it as Napoleon Dynamite which gives it that more unique look, almost like a mix between independent and mainstream. Jared Hess also makes use of a similar style of filming in which much of the film is broken down into small sections that all flow together very well while at the same time progresses the film at a refreshing pace.  While Nacho Libre doesn't flow as well as Napoleon Dynamite, which seemed to move quite fast and flow very well, it still does a good job keeping a good pace.

The role of Nacho was written for Jack Black there is no one else who could have played the role better than him.  He's a hilarious guy and he plays the role flawlessly, even on the few occasions when his accent doesn't quite hold up. Esqueleto, Nacho's sidekick is also a very funny character and the two of them work well together in the same type of Napoleon/Pedro relationship where each of them is a bizarre outcast. The supporting characters were also well cast, like the little chubby orphan boy, who was very funny in multiple scenes with Nacho.

In the end, Nacho Libre probably won't win over people as much as Napoleon Dynamite did but it's definitely a worthy follow up film for director Jared Hess. It has a few slow moments but for the most part I was very entertained and laughed a lot. The characters are great, the music is awesome, the story is unique and the ending, the final battle vs. the great Rameses, is a fitting close to a very good film. Well worth a watch if your a fan of these types of comedies, if not you're more than likely to find it stupid.

8/10