"I was wondering if you would like to join me in my quarters this night... for some toast." - Nacho

Rating: 6/10 (20 June 2006)

From the creator of 'Napoleon Dynamite', comes Jack Black's new film that is a lot like, well... 'Napoleon Dynamite'. Critics gave 'Napoleon Dynamite' undeserved scathing reviews calling it tacky and boring, but I couldn't see why. 'Napoleon Dynamite' was one of the funniest films of 2004, if you just sat back and let it be. I enjoy the Jared and Jerusha Hess' off-beat strange sense of humor that almost all of us can relate to. It's as dry as it gets, and so is their latest feature, 'Nacho Libre'. Critics hated 'Nacho Libre ' also. I personally really liked the film and laughed consistently through-out the entire film. 'Nacho Libre' isn't anything brilliant, perhaps not even "good" film-making, but it is a very enjoyable way to kill 2 hours.
Jack Black playing yet another off-the-wall character is the Spanish Orphanage priest, Ignacio, or Nacho, for short. Ignacio is a fan of Mexican wrestling and it has always been his dream to become a real wrestler, but his religion and parish forbids it. To earn money for the orphans and to impress the new nun working at the orphanage (Ana de la Reguera), Nacho and a street bum, Esquelto (Hector Jimenez) team up to kick butt and beat wrestling champion Ramses in the wrestling tournament.
The plot is outrageous and even more so is everything else, but if you just sit back and check your brain at the door, you'll probably enjoy 'Nacho Libre', a lot. It's not a good film and it's definitely under the category of a 'guilty-pleasure', but that can't stop me from giving this movie a deserved thumbs up it hasn't been getting from the majority of film critics. Jack Black is a riot in his role, and so is his sidekick played by Hector Jimenez whose body-language is hysterical. The rest of the cast is filled with excluding Ana de la Reguera and a small cameo from Fargo's Peter Stormare, the cast is filled with unknowns, whom I've never seen a film prior to this, or at least I don't remember seeing them in any film before this.
If you are in the mood for some ridiculously stupid fun, go see 'Nacho Libre' but if you are looking for something else, avoid this movie like the plague. It may just inspire you to become a pro-wrestler....or maybe not. Grade: B- (*** out of *****, screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, Arizona, 6/19/06)