Jon Monsarrat review: disappointing, not another Napolean Dynamite

Rating: 4/10 (22 June 2006)

I loved Napolean Dynamite but unfortunately Nacho Libre didn't add up. There are many ways in which Nacho Libre could have entertained.
It could have involved some good action, and great wrestling students. It didn't.
It could have had a romance plot with real chemistry. It didn't. The actor playing the nun wasn't given much to do except respond, and played her character too straight. And without giving anything away I'll just say the ending didn't resolve the final question.
It could have been a good parody, but the film didn't seem to have anything intelligent to say about society or religion or even wrestling. Also a good parody still needs to have a believable plot line to capture the interest of the viewers. The characterization was too thin for this in Nacho Libre. For example, when two characters fight but then decide to work together, it falls flat.
It could have been funny. Unfortunately, the comedy was mainly physical humor and fart jokes. There were a few laughs but they were sparse.
From there it got worse. There was something wrong with the cinematography. The scene changes and edits were sometimes jarring. The emotional tone from one scene to another often didn't fit. It's like the actors would cry in one scene and be happy in the next (but more subtle). Possibly the film was heavily edited.
The acting was fairly poor, unfortunately, I'm sad to say Jack Black himself, since I have enjoyed him in other films. There are three times when his character has to notice something out of the corner of his eye and it popped me out of the suspension of disbelief every time.