Not Great, but not that bad, okay for kids

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2006)

I am not a Jack Black fan, and have not seen Napoleon Dynamite, but still thought that this was a good movie. With the exception of Nacho, we learn very little about the other characters. Fortunately, Jack Black's portrayal of the main character is engaging enough to carry the film. Many of the negative comments point out that there were no memorable lines. This is true. There is however, dialog, sight gags, and the expressions of the actors, especially Jack Black's. There is something about this guy that allows him to take a bland line and turn it into something entertaining.
Some have accused this of bashing the Catholic Church. I didn't see it. Others claim that this is offensive to Mexicans. Again, I didn't see it. In fact, while it does show that these people are not as well off as we are in the United States, it portrays Mexicans (for the most part) as a group of honest and hardworking people. By the way, Nacho's accent reminded me of "The Spaniard" from The Princess Bride.
As for kids, the only things that I found objectionable were the fart-jokes and the scenes where Nacho was speaking from the other side of a bathroom stall (with somewhat inappropriate sound effects). My eight year-old daughter, who picked this movie, (probably because she was constantly bombarded by ads on the Nickelodeon Channel) was entertained, and I did not feel that she was exposed to anything harmful. When I asked here what her favorite part of the movie was, she just shrugged, even though her eyes had been glued to the screen from start to finish.
Conclusion: No catch phrases. Just a nice, albeit imperfect, film that is well acted and well directed. It is fine for kids, unless you think that The Disney Channel goes too far some times.