As dumb and useless as it looks...a complete disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (20 June 2006)

I don't know what I expected from Nacho Libre. I was not a huge fan of the enormously successful cult classic Napoleon Dynamite but I love Jack Black's comedy and I knew it would be dumb but it could still be funny. Unfortunately Nacho Libre is only one thing...BORING...flat out boring with gags and jokes that are so stale they stink and a story that is just plain boring.
One thing for sure is I don't blame Jack Black. I think Black is a brilliant comedian. He can do physical comedy like nobody else, he loves to poke fun at himself, he's an average joe who just likes to act crazy and usually that's fun to watch. School of Rock was just hilarious but the story was solid. Black was equally hilarious in the very under rated High Fidelity. I think he has a great career ahead of him in comedy, maybe even drama (he was very good in King Kong.) He can be a leading man. He is the one redeemable aspect of this film. If someone else had starred...I might have walked out...and I never do. Ana de la Reguera plays Jack Blacks'...obsession I suppose?? He is a priest and she is a nun so I can't exactly say love interest because there isn't any actual romance between them. She is very placid, a little boring, bears a striking resemblance to Penelope Cruz but does little to nothing besides be eye candy in a nun's outfit. Héctor Jiménez actually does a pretty decent job as Jack Black's tag team partner Esqueleto. He does some really good physical comedy and plays a great straight man to Blacks' comedy routine but even still the story stinks so bad. There really isn't any other characters to mention.
Co-writer and director Jared Hess' idea of humor is way out there and completely off kilter. His idea of funny is being as dull and stupid as you can be which seems to work for everyone who thinks Napoleon Dynamite (also his baby) was hilarious. I guess I don't find stupidity all that funny. I won't completely crap on the film. I will say I was very impressed that you could actually take your kids to this film. There wasn't a stick of bad language, or incredibly inappropriate humor, it was actually pretty family friendly...too bad it would put them to sleep. They also felt the need to throw in the even stupider fart jokes which felt as out of place as passing gas would in a church. The wrestling scenes are funny but very, very predictable and same old when it comes to stunts and funny scenes in the ring. The single ONLY funny part was Jack Black singing a song...the man is hilarious when he sings. He should have skipped this absolute STINKER and made School of Rock 2. Then again the film is doing well and likely will continue. Everyone else in the theater seemed to be laughing insanely and I thought it was just plain dumb...drier than the Mexican desert it took place in. And for ALL the reviewers and critics and people who post online saying the film is racist...I wouldn't even worry about it. It's as racist as Napoleon Dynamite was to white people. Sure it portrays Mexicans as poor and rather foolish but then it also portrays everyone in the film as poor and stupid. It's not even campy, it must have cost them 10$ to make except for Blacks' salary. Skip this one altogether and see a better comedy...or see it and prepare to have a nap. 4/10