Signature Move!

Rating: 6/10 (20 June 2020)

I guess you either like Jack Black or don't. I've never taken to him as a tough guy leading man (King Kong, hopelessly miscast), or a rom-com heart throb ( The Holiday, seriously?). He's most at home in stuff such as Nacho Libre; in your face, physical comedy with a touch of heart and soul. Having said that, I'm amazed that Nacho Libre is actually based on a true story of a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who had a 23-year career as a masked luchador and competed in order to support the orphanage he directed. Just seems fittingly bizarre.
Black plays lowly regarded monk/cook Ignacio who dreams of becoming a luchador, primarily to improve the lot of the children he cares deeply for, at the same poor Mexican orphanage where he grew up. He'd also like to impress the very foxy Sister Encarnacion, a nun who teaches at the orphanage. After meeting homeless guy Steve in the back streets of the local township, they decide to take the plunge and join up as tag team partners in a local competition, with Ignacio, adopting the masked guise of wrestler Nacho Libre, to try to avoid sanctioning from monastery senior monks, who see professional wrestling as a sin of vanity.
I'm the first to admit that a lot of the Black humour is pretty school yard basic. Sophistication and Jack Black don't go hand in hand. However Nacho Libre has 3 really strong positives going for it.
The very well choreographed wrestling bouts and array of wrestling characters are really funny. I defy any viewers to not at least get some solid giggling going, watching them. Steven, Ignacio's usually hapless sidekick, who wrestles under the alias of Esquelet played by Hector Jimenez, is a wonderful addition to the cast and with his eternal hang dog facial expression, comes close to stealing every scene he's in. And finally, the (surprisingly) tasteful, budding romance between Ignacio and Sister Encarnacion played by the gorgeous Ana de la Reguera, gives the movie a solid emotional core.
Nacho Libre is undeniably quirky and silly in large portions of screen time throughout. But even if you don't always find this type of goofy humour always agreeable it is still a sweet movie with a universal message about caring for others. And the sight of Jack Black clad in tight wrestling regalia is an image not easily forgotten.