Nacho Libre

Nacho Libre

To my amazement, Jack Black’s grotesquely amusing picture, somehow even more astonishing after I learned that this tale is based on a true fact the life history of a Mexican priest, Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, who spent 23 years working as a luchador. What amazed me even more was the attitude toward the movie of its producers Paramount Pictures, and its main actor Jack Black who served this material with sugar and care.

Certainly, such type of situation would have been considerably easier to make. But what we have here is a quite captivating and lovable film, which also showcases this very early stage of Jack Black before Jumanji, the one who shocked the audience by his hysterical and fun performance in The School of Rock back in 2003.

But there isn’t much of a plot here and, putting jokes, a very pronounced idea of “Nacho Libre” not all lost hopes are dooms, they eventually will come back, and this is also an amazing premise for telling a story. Even in his childhood, Ignacio (or Nacho, played by Jack Black) had a clear resolution to become a luchador sometime in the future.

He is brought into the Monastery and has this fantasy taken away from him, which as a child leads him to the life of a monk, as an adult his responsibilities consist of cooking a scant amount of soup for new orphans with no supplies and is out-cast by the older monk (Julio Sandoval) who despises him.

Instead of concentrating on the sermons, he doodles sketches of how his wrestling costume should look while in church…and, miraculously, one day, he gets a recruit (Héctor Jiménez) and starts a tag-team wrestling match in the streets of Oaxaca. For the fact that Ignacio with his winnings (even if he lost the match) uses it to improve the diet of children at the orphanage, this makes the film even more appealing.

Once more, Black is hilarious again here; but, in a strange way, within several moments of the film, where one desires to laugh that Black is moving and his lips are fleetingly mouthing words, which is comical and inspiration to yell out loud abruptly, the scene has Black, who plays the wrestler Ignacio, doing other things.

The first part of the film tends to oscillate on the one hand between forwards and backwards the development of the relationship between Nacho and Jiménez’ Esqueleto (that is comical and adorable), and on the other his interests to a sister working in a cloister, this is Ana de la Reguera, a Mexican actress who in 2008 appeared as the international representative for Cover Girl (yes, we all agree, she is stunning and beautiful but really, she makes a very convincing nun working in a poor Monastery, just move on okay?). Of course, there is no such constraint even for those who have serious principles in the sight of Jared and Black, reason is appropriate in its absurdity.

It’s a family picture and there probably isn’t one offensive element in it

I feel perhaps I am failing to fully appreciate the charm of this film which alongside being criticized by movie critics like Roger Ebert, who gave it a 39% Tomato meter score on Rotten Tomatoes, is quite easy to do. But scores like these only work if your thinking goes along the lines of ‘The film stars Jack Black, Black is supposed to be humorous, and this film just does not live up to its expectation.’

But honestly “Nacho Libre” in a funny film but not funny in the way that, people who are fans of black are used to. Yes, he ad lib some of the sound and makes up in a hysterical manner as Tenacious D. And yes, he does fly in the air and lands on his face, his back, and just about every other place imaginable. In the movie’s best, most ludicrous, and funniest moment, he and Jiménez bashed their selves for the first fight they had, and somehow this scene is filled with a lot of craziness, and even black clutching a beehive and throwing it at Jiménez who was in a screaming soprano voice as he got stung by the buzzing bee.

To be fair, “Libre” does ramble on a bit as it raises its hands in the air at knock knock jokes that do not work, sub plots that are not jelled and a resolution between Nacho and this film’s protagonist who goes by the name Ramses (César Gonzalez) a luchador that is fierce and strong isn’t quite all that’s exciting.

However, it appears further along in the story arc that it doesn’t really have to. The film is an anti trope: there’s never a love interest, there’s the insiders but no real villains, and there are plenty of build-ups and climaxes which never deliver and supplants a damp squib in all likelihood. Well, for good or ill, “Libre” wins in this regard, it is an enjoyable movie experience that is quite nice to smile your way through, provided you can switch you brain off and just relax into it.

Ultimately, “Nacho Libre” is not one that will go down in history as one of Black’s greatest, nor one of his more prolific roles. Black has several times been on record wishing for a second one to materialize, but there isn’t much likelihood of that from what I see. “Libre”, for all intents and purposes, is an interesting fish out of water film that pays tribute to and has an affection for that particular genre of Mexican wrestling, has charming characters that gain values out of the story, and benedicts the viewer with delightful sights and sounds of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Its ending scene is understated but cute. If you are a viewer of “Nacho Libre”, you will easily comprehend this abstract without too much struggle. If not, any of the other works of Black would be a better use of your time.

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