Good for(more than)a few laughs

Rating: 6/10 (5 January 2007)

A half-American,half-Mexican monk(JAck Black,somewhat less verbal than previous outings)becomes enthralled with the celebrity and money of being a Luchador(Mexican wrestler). He is also getting frustrated with being the cook at the monastery/orphanage he has lived and worked at since he was a kid. With the help of a street urchin he meets(he's mugged BY said urchin)while running an errand for the chief Abbott,he takes to the ring,training regimen,stretchy pants,mask and all,keeping a secret life from the orphanage,his superiors and a pretty nun(Ana de la Ruegera,breathtakingly beautiful!)he fancies.
Directed and co-written by Jared Hess,he of Napoleon Dynamite fame,this film has plenty of the ear-marks of ND:still shots of people with people coming into the frame from the sides,still shots of plates of food and plenty of physical slapstick. This is hardly a great film:it feels a little forced in terms of character chemistry,and the story seems to be a bit sloppily conceived,but this film delivers enough laugh-out-loud moments that it redeems itself. I'm not sorry I didn't catch this in the theater,and really,this film would make as good a cheap rent or something on cable if you were just passing the time. You could do worse.