Film Noir Review

"Nacho Libre" wrestles with fun!

by Judy Marker, Movie Critic
Popular actor Jack Black ("King Kong") returns to his comedy roots in "Nacho Libre" turning from hunting a giant gorilla to wrestling with human versions.

Black stars as Nacho, a man without any skills having grown up in a Mexican monastery. Trying to fit in as the cook, he barely gets by preparing food seldom fit for human consumption. He blames all his problems on the ingredients, second and "throw-away" quality, all the poor monastery can afford.

Nacho is a good man and his heart feels for all the young orphans who must eat his terrible meals. With its limited budget already over-extended, Nacho knows the monastery has no extra funds to buy better ingredients or almost anything else. So he knows it is up to him to come up with a way to earn the needed cash.

He soon discovers he has a hidden talent as a Lucha Libre wrestler in an attempt to earn the needed funds for the monastery, but no one there must know his real identity.

As a modern day "Zorro," he teams with Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez) who lives up to his name of the Skeleton for being so tall and thin.

Lucha Libre wrestling is immensely popular in Mexico and participants wear masks to hide their identity. This is the only way Nacho could easily hide his true identity from even his closest friends. If discovered, it would mean "curtains" at the monastery.

Using almost an exclusively Mexican cast, Sister Encarnaclon (Ana de la Reguera) always seems to be on Nacho’s back at the monastery, but it is she who unknowingly encourages him to wrestle. Her tough management style and oversight of him makes Nacho want to succeed.

As Nacho moves up the wrestling vine of success he soon meets his archrival Guillermo (Richard Montoya). Will Nacho rise to champion? Will he be unmasked? Can the young orphans count on better meals?

Included in the cast are many of Mexico’s finest luchador wrestlers. This includes Cesar Gonzalez who is known as "Bronco" in the ring is the most famous of all Lucha Libre wrestlers. He appears as Ramses, the most feared.

Writer and Director Jared Hess provides us with a not as entertaining film as his "Napoleon Dynamite" and a view of life south of the border.

"Nacho Libre" is a fun film to enjoy at home and has a "PG" rating for some rough action, and crude humor including dialogue. With a running time of one hour and 33 minutes, it receives my rating of "2-J’s/Wait for DVD!"