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News / Columns / Critics Consensus
Critical Consensus: Soggy "Nacho," Aimless "Drift," Untidy "House"
by Tim Ryan | June 15, 2006
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This week at the movies, we've got wrestlers ("Nacho Libre"), Tokyo drifters ("The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"), time-delayed lovers ("The Lake House"), and lasagna-loving felines ("Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties"). What do the critics have to say?

I'm sure I speak for much of humanity when I say that each time I see Jack Black in a wrestling outfit on the posters for "Nacho Libre," I chuckle to myself. Heartily. The critics, who've actually seen the movie, have been a little less charitable. Black stars as a man who becomes a wrestler to raise money for orphans who live in the monastery where he grew up. While some critics say the film has its share of laughs, others say the sophomore effort of Jared ("Napoleon Dynamite") Hess is the very definition of sophomoric. At 49 percent on the Tomatometer, this "Nacho" is only sort of tasty. And it's nowhere near "Dynamite" (71 percent).


"Nacho Libre:" Let's get ready to rumble!

In the third installment of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, a new collection of thrill seekers head to Japan to engage in "drifting," that exciting brand of motorsport that values oversteering. Let's be honest: Nobody is going to this one for anything but action, nifty driving, and other assorted cheap thrills (this ain't "Two-Lane Blacktop"). And even utilizing those limited criteria, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" only attains a modest amount of success. The critics say that while the driving sequences are reasonably cool, the characters are about as well-crafted as a pinewood-derby cart that ends up in a ditch. It's currently at 41 percent on the Tomatometer, trailing the original "F&F" (at 50 percent).


"Tokyo Drift": Faster and furious to an even greater degree

There are a lot of reasons relationships don't work out. Sometimes couples live too far apart, or have vastly different schedules. But what about a couple communicating across a two-year time difference -- can this relationship be saved? Unfortunately for "The Lake House," starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, the answer appears to be no. The critics say the film's premise (it's a remake of the 2002 Korean film "Il Mare") is not necessarily a bad idea, but the execution is off; the film is neither effective as a romance or as a metaphysical puzzle. At 32 percent on the Tomatometer, this "House" looks like a fixer-upper. And how does it compare with "Speed," the last Reeves/Bullock collabo? Do you even need to ask?


"I should probably tell you that I'm taking the bus because I had my driver's license revoked."

The scribes' response to "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties" has prompted Critical Consensus to paraphrase from Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities": "[The critics] looked at [Garfield] sideways with a stronger concentration of keenness, closeness, and dislike, than was comportable with its wearer's assumption of indifference." The operative words here are "indifference" and "dislike," as critics say "Garfield" wastes a talented voice cast (Bill Murray, Bob Hoskins, Tim Curry) in a dull, relatively laugh-free plot. At 17 percent on the Tomatometer, the scribes have one thing to say: Bad "Kitties!" (By the way, the original was at 13 percent.)


"Garfield:" Let's get ready to rumble... again!

Also this week, in limited release: "Wordplay," a doc about New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz, is at 89 percent; G.W. Pabst's silent classic "Pandora's Box," starring the staggeringly beautiful Louise Brooks, is at 83 percent; the gritty Brazilian love triangle "Lower City" is at 57 percent; the gay cult-fave comic strip adaptation "The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green" is at 33 percent; and Kevin Bacon's second directorial effort, "Loverboy," is at 14 percent.

Movies with the Words "Fast" and "Furious" in their titles:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
38% -- 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
50% -- The Fast and the Furious (2001)
N/A -- The Fast and the Furious (1954)

Recent Jack Black Movies:
---------------------------------
84% -- King Kong (2005)
6% -- Envy (2004)
35% -- Shark Tale (2004)
90% -- School of Rock (2003)
49% -- Orange County (2002)

Related Items
Movie: 2 Fast 2 Furious
Il Mare
The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green
Napoleon Dynamite
Loverboy
The Fast and the Furious
Nacho Libre
The Fast and the Furious
Garfield the Movie
Wordplay
Tokyo Drifter
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
The Lake House
Speed
Pandora's Box
Two-Lane Blacktop
Celeb: Louise Brooks
G.W. Pabst
Tim Curry
Kevin Bacon
Keanu Reeves
Bob Hoskins
Bill Murray
Jared Hess
Charles Dickens
Jack Black
Will Shortz
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Comments (1-16 of 16 posts) | Reply
225038
CrazyGhost78 writes:
on Jun 15 2006 08:02 PM

the only thing that suprises me is Nacho Libre and Tokyo Drift got higher than I would have expected.

Other than that, no shockers here.


(Reply to this)
Flim Springfield writes:
on Jun 16 2006 12:56 AM

I'll be checking out "Nacho Libre" anyways. The greatness of "Napoleon Dynamite" earned Jared Hess one 'freebie' from me. :)

(Reply to this)
2439
South_park300 writes:
on Jun 16 2006 07:46 PM

i liked nacho, which was good. i went in with low expectations, so it ended up great. if you like the style of humor from Napoleon Dynamite, there shouldn't be a reason to not like this film

(Reply to this)
TheAnswerMVP2001 writes:
on Jun 17 2006 01:33 AM

Who cares what the critics think I enjoyed Nacho and thought it was very good, not as good as Napoleon Dynamite, but still very enjoyable. I loved the ending with the battle against Ramses, that was great!

(Reply to this)
228417
UweBoll writes:
on Jun 17 2006 08:23 AM

I saw the trailer for Nacho Libre while seeing Scary movie 4 (and also the trailer for Waiting), it made me enjoy Scary movie so much more, this has got the be the worse trailer I have ever seen, it made the whole audience cringe (and remember we were an audience that had paid to see Scary movie)

(Reply to this)
313966
hoodlum writes:
on Jun 17 2006 10:41 AM

I am so happy to say the The Fast And The Furious Was way better than Nacho Libre. Saw both yesterday and nacho libre was not good at all.

(Reply to this)
2439
South_park300 writes:
on Jun 17 2006 12:22 PM

what was so good about fast and the furious, just curious

(Reply to this)
316440
daycare writes:
on Jun 17 2006 12:38 PM

It is on the line as the first one. Think of the M-I-Trilogy. The first one was good. The 2nd Was garbage, and the 3rd was as good as the first. It is the same case with this one. People thought it would be bad because of how bad the 2nd was and it had diffrent actors. Nobody comes to see this kind of movie for the acting. People just need to see for there self if the movie is good or not. Trust me, if people can see Nacho Libre( which i did not care for that much) then they can see this one. Just look at the user rating for the Fast and the Furious 3 and see what alot of people are saying. It is at 90& so they must like it.

P.S I am glade to see that the fast and the furious 3 is doing good in the boxoffice. It made 10 million on the first day. nacho made 11 million which is just 1 million more. It seem like peopee are seeing both. Which is good for one of those film.I say the weekend boxoffice will be Nacho Libre 28 million, The fast and the furious 3 25 million. Cars- 20 million. the lake house- 17 million. The breack up- 14 million.


(Reply to this)
2439
South_park300 writes:
on Jun 17 2006 07:08 PM

to each thier own. i just wanted a reason.

...but then again, i thought the first one was trash.


(Reply to this)
316440
daycare writes:
on Jun 17 2006 10:04 PM

In reply to this comment (#838208)
If you did not like the first one. You might not like this one. Even if it is better.

(Reply to this)
262702
TheIceGhost writes:
on Jun 18 2006 12:28 AM

Crappy franchise (and this is coming from a "car-crazy" home). The first one only had one good car (and V.D is a teeerrrrriiibbbbllleee actor...yes, the streaming letters were necessary), the second one was just handicapped (hah, get it!?), and I simply have no desire to see the 3rd. Saw Nacho tonight; it was okay. It's really one of those movies where you just gotta accept it for what it is; get your jokes and move on. There were some funny moments (his tag-team partner was really funny), but I certainly wasn't bent over my seat, turning to the guy next to me laughing hysterically. Was it worth the price of admission? Nah, but it was a night out with friends so, shoodles...yeah....shoodles....

(Reply to this)
316440
daycare writes:
on Jun 18 2006 09:12 AM

In reply to this comment (#838210)
It is not a crappy franchise. Not only was this way better than nacho libre but it was the best out of all 3. This one had a better plot and it had racing all over the movie. The ending was great with that person showing up. People who have not say this movie can not say it was bad. Just look at the user rating for this film. It is at 91%. People must like this film. People said this movie was crappy without seeing but look at nacho. The user rating is at 55%. So that must be the crappy movie.

(Reply to this)
207151
cgcbooks writes:
on Jun 18 2006 10:23 AM

In reply to this comment (#838211)
You better look again. It's down to 38%.

(Reply to this)
262702
TheIceGhost writes:
on Jun 18 2006 10:55 AM

In reply to this comment (#838212)
No critics is 38%, users is the little tab on top next to it which says 93%.....and I know who shows up at the end, and it is stupid, because he's a teeerrrriiiibbblllleeee actor. I'm not suddenly going to cave because the user rating is high, because I don't cave to peer pressure..."Oh, it looked terrible, but its a 93% now I'm seeing it right away!!" The user rating doesn't justify if it is a good movie or not. I haaaaated Wedding Crashers but "everyone" is in love with that movie, and I really disliked Napolean Dynamite and people really like that movie too. I form my own opinions on what I see, not what others tell me to see. It doesn't matter if "Tokyo" is the best one or not I simply do not like these films, at least the 1st two. I'm not a fan of imports or ricey's or anything of that sort, they simply aren't "real" cars to me, I like old school stuff better, like the car Vinny was "afraid of" in the 1st one, that's my kind of car. If they made a Fast and the Furious that took place in the 60's/70's, with REAL CARS, then I'd be on board, but until then it's just not for me. And I already said Nacho wasn't great, wasn't bad, but wasn't great, but I'd rather see that again than put myself through another buzzbox episode, but that's just me.

(Reply to this)
2439
South_park300 writes:
on Jun 18 2006 02:38 PM

or,
if you REALLY have to see nice looking cars, and a great story, go see CARS. you can't lose with that.


(Reply to this)
271976
DIABLUSX writes:
on Jun 21 2006 07:46 AM

I saw both Nacho and Tokyo and neither are worth watching. Nacho was ok but you have to be in the mood which I wasn't at the time. Tokyo was just bad. Typical acting/plot making it a by the books movie. They should have just focused on the cars and less on the acting.

(Reply to this)
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