Hit-and-miss Black vehicle

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2006)

NACHO LIBRE (2006) *** Jack Black, Ana de la Reguera, Hector Jiminez, Darius Rose, Peter Stormare. Hit-and-miss comic vehicle for Black as put-upon chef of a Mexican orphanage who dreams of something better for himself and finding it in the unlikely form of becoming a masked wrestler when his charges find themselves with insufficient funds for proper nourishment. Written by Mike White and filmmaker Jared and his significant other Jerusha Hess, the screenplay leaves one wanting more for Black to do but nonetheless gets his ya-yas out with some funny slapstick instead (the wrestling is a combo of Bugs Bunny meets Lou Costello) . A disappointment in some regards, yet de la Reguera as a nun Black falls for channeling Penelope Cruz in an Almodovar flick provides some sweet, sexy purity to the chicanery at hand and Jiminez is a riot as the high shrieking sidekick.