This would make for a pretty funny short film, but there's too much filler material here. Save this one for a rental if you're a Jack Black fan.
Nacho Libre (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:62
Rotten:97
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: At times hilarious, but other times offensive, Director Jared Hess is unable to recapture the collective charisma of his Napoleon characters, instead relying on a one-joke concept that runs out of steam. Sure to entertain the adolescents, however.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some rough action, and crude humor including dialogue.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jun 16, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $80,197,993
Synopsis: Celebrating the triumphs and tribulations of the lovable loser is no easy thing, but filmmaker Jared Hess seems to thrive in this specific cinematic exercise. Working fresh off the success of... Celebrating the triumphs and tribulations of the lovable loser is no easy thing, but filmmaker Jared Hess seems to thrive in this specific cinematic exercise. Working fresh off the success of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, Hess finds a similarly endearing hero-without-a-clue in Ignacio, played by Jack Black (HIGH FIDELITY, KING KONG), the title character in NACHO LIBRE. Ignacio, growing up in a poor monastery in Mexico, has dreamed of being a professional wrestler since childhood. This obsession has led him to a thankless adult existence as monastery whipping-boy and chef, serving stale, day-old nacho chips to finicky orphans. In an effort to earn the respect of new nun-hottie Sister Encarnacion (Ana De La Reguera) and escape the monastery into the greedy excess of pro wrestling, Ignacio enters a local amateur competition. Along the way, he picks up the notably scrawny yet tough street urchin Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez) as his tag-team partner. The duo hilariously loses badly and repeatedly to all manner of local wrestling oddities. It is only when Ignacio recognizes a higher goal than money and glory that he can truly compete with his professional idols, including the dreaded and evil champion Ramses. Co-written with Hess's writing partner and wife, Jerusha, and noted screenwriter Mike White (CHUCK & BUCK, SCHOOL OF ROCK), NACHO LIBRE is stocked with real-life wrestlers doing their thing. Jack Black's over-the-top physical humor blends in perfectly with repeated viewings of his "stretchie pants" and timely flatulence. In concert, the elements fuse to distill a comedy that should appeal to all ages eager to be pinned down in a full-nelson by laughter. [More]
Starring: Jack Black, Ana DeLa Reguera, Hector Jiminez, Peter Stormare
Starring: Jack Black, Ana DeLa Reguera, Hector Jiminez, Peter Stormare, Darius Rose
Director: Jared Hess
Director: Jared Hess
Screenwriter: Mike White, Jerusha Hess
Producer: Mike White, Jack Black
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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Reviews for Nacho Libre
It takes some doing to make a Jack Black comedy that doesn't work. But Nacho Libre does it.
Someday, Jared Hess will aspire to make a movie that goes a bit deeper than just a geeky outsider with bad hair, a funny name and an exaggerated accent. But not today.
Very broad and very silly, it's a doodle of a comedy -- a one-joke idea (fat guy goes luchador) padded out to feature length by Black's willingness to do anything for a laugh.
The humor is strictly grade school. The movie is missing the wit and charm Hess, who directs, created for Napoleon Dynamite and White and Black used in School of Rock.
Nacho're best movie, Mr. Black, but you do have some moves and a few laughs.
Another tale (like 'Napoleon Dynamite') of a dreamy misfit seeking recognition and innocent love in an appealingly hermetic land of living cartoon characters.
Straddling one those tiresome lines between caricature and inventiveness, Esqueleto is easily the movie's most engaging presence.
Jared Hess already made the one good movie he had in him. Jack Black needs a director who can save him from character-breaking shtick. The stretchy pants of "Nacho Libre" only go so far before stretchy patience sets in.
there was not enough alcohol or any other conscious-altering substance out there to make this flick bearable
Nacho Libre serves as further evidence to the theory that people will laugh at anything as long as they expect to.
Jared Hess has made another sweet PG-rated movie populated with determined oddballs in surreally timeless settings.
What is least appealing about the Hesses is the sense that they are always laughing 'at' rather than 'with' their characters
Black, making terrific use of his portly physique, throws himself into the role (and into the ring) with the sort of no-holds-barred gusto rarely seen since the heyday of the late John Belushi.
The film is so good-natured and pleasant and simple that I can't not recommend it. It's a disappointment in a lot of ways, but it's sure an upbeat one.
Film Jack Black doing anything for 80 minutes and you're bound to wring a few yuks from the footage, but the chuckles delivered here are distressingly few and far between.
Nacho Libre is such a remarkable improvement over Napoleon Dynamite, someone might want to check the temp in hell and see if it's still toasty down there.
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