Sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun.

Rating: 6/10 (31 May 2020)

If nothing else, "Nacho Libre" is a reasonably amusing and endearing vehicle for the talented star, Jack Black. He's actually a bit more restrained than is typical for him, taking the time to create an engaging character with some real heart. Nacho Libre is a friar at a Mexican monastery who works as the cook. Determined to do right by the orphans living there, and just as determined to win the love of beautiful nun Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera), he realizes his lifes' dream of being a Luchador, or Mexican wrestler.
Concocted by the creators of "Napoleon Dynamite", this amiable feature may not deliver true belly laughs, and it can get childishly crude, but it's hard to dislike or dismiss. It does benefit from genuinely likeable individuals at the core of the story. Sure, Blacks' "accent" doesn't exactly cut it, but director Jared Hess (who co-wrote the script with Mike White and his wife Jerusha) never aims to take ANY of this very seriously. The result may be a fairly inconsequential movie, but it entertains adequately for a well-paced 93 minutes. The ring action is fun, and Black does have some chemistry with Hector Jimenez, who plays the street kid who becomes his steadfast companion. Their escapades are good for some laughs, such as when Jimenez is pursued by a corpulent admirer, or when Black pretends to be part of an ensemble of musicians.
"Nacho Libre" makes no attempt to be "realistic". It merely shows comedy lovers a good time for an hour and a half, with a blessed lack of pretentiousness.
Six out of 10.