Here’s a great idea: Get the guy who made Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess) and team him up with the guy who wrote School of Rock (Mike White) and then cast Jack Black in the lead role. The hilarious result of this collaboration is a movie about a Mexican luchador wrestler who goes by the alias Nacho Libre. This is one of those ‘love it or hate it’ comedies, and I loved it.

The title of this movie is derived from Mexican wrestling called lucha libre, which according to the Wikipedia, loosely means ‘free-style fighting’. It has been around longer than American professional wrestling. In fact, what we know of American wrestling borrows very heavily from the luchadores, which is what you call the Mexican wrestlers. This style of wrestling is characterized by a lot of flashy movies and theatrics performed in the ring. The luchadores are as much actors and performers as they are fighters, just like matadors at a bullfight.

This movie begins showing Jack Black’s character, Nacho, growing up as a young boy in a Mexican orphanage run by priests. Yes, Jack Black plays a Mexican in this movie. Some might find that offensive, but I found it to be humorous without going overboard on stereotypes. Even as a boy, Nacho was obsessed with wrestling and the luchadores, but the priests did not agree with this and tried to give him work duties to keep his mind occupied. As Nacho grew older, he never let go of his dream to become a wrestler in the lucha libre.

One day, a chance encounter with a local homeless man leads Nacho to try entering the ring with that man as his wrestling partner. They are badly defeated in their first match, but the crowd liked them well enough that the promoters invited him back and even offered them money. Nacho uses this money to buy things for the children back at the orphanage, although he must keep his wrestling a secret. That’s why he wears a mask and keeps his identity hidden. It has long been the tradition of the lucha libre to wear masks, so building a story around a wrestler with a hidden identity makes for a neat plotline.

With all the wrestling and charades going on, Nacho tries to win over the nun who just joined the orphanage. She’s young and beautiful, but she’s still a nun. This results in some hilarious conversations, such as when Nacho invites her back to his room ‘for some toast’. The scene that follows, which begins with the two characters loudly eating some pieces of very crunchy toast, is wonderful. Jack Black’s facial expressions are priceless. This early scene is what really captured my attention and drew me into the film one hundred percent.

The beautiful Ana de la Reguera is great as the nun who catches Nacho’s eye. She looks a lot like Spanish actress Paz Vega, who was the best thing about the movie Spanglish. Reguera is a very popular Mexican actress who will probably land some American roles after the success of this movie. Hector Jimenez, as Esqueleto, is great as the skinny counterpart to Black’s rotund figure. His name means skeleton, which fits him well.

I don’t know if anyone other than Jack Black could have pulled off this movie. If anyone else ever could have, it would have been John Belushi. In many ways, Black is like the Belushi of this generation, but lucky for him I don’t think Black has any hardcore substance abuse problems. He just recently became a father, too. I wonder what it will be like as he gets older and takes on more serious roles. He’s one of those magnetic actors who looks and talks and acts like you’d think he’d just annoy the mess out of you, but yet he’s so engaging.

Although I did enjoy Napoleon Dynamite, I thought this movie was funnier. This film is more direct comedy whereas N.D. was more comical but didn’t have many strong punchlines. The wrestling scenes in this film were pretty good, but the real star of the show is Jack Black. His best scenes are where it’s just a close-up of him delivering silly lines with his fake Mexican accent and fluidic eyebrows. Director Jared Hess is looking to make a fine career out of making ordinary-looking people become fascinating through their own personalities and quirks.

I thought this movie was funny from the opening scene to the last. As much of the comedy is based on physical humor as is good writing, and there’s a joke in every scene. From Nacho’s attempts at wooing a nun to his meager moves in the wrestling ring, this is a great comedy. I think fans of stuff like N.D. or School of Rock will surely love this movie.


Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Funny Movie