Nacho Libre

Hollywood Mou-lei-tau at its excellence!

The Gist

Jack Black is a Mexican priest who cooks for the orphans. Every single day it’s the same meal and he wants to get something better for them. So he secretly participates in a Mexican wrestling at night match called lucha-libre to win some cash to buy them better food. Along the way, he gets a real ugly skinny guy to be his partner.

What Do I Think?

Jack Black is indeed a true talent at comedy. You can see the amount of strength, energy and enthusiasm he pours out whenever he projects his silliness. At times he has such a straight face doing them stupid acts, I wonder if he knows that he’s acting stupid.

Black maintains good balance in choosing his films, from serious films (King Kong, Shallow Hal) to idiotic ones (School of Rock, Nacho Libre). From the same writers of School of Rock (what’s with this guy calling himself Mike White?) and the director of Napoleon Dynamite, comes this comedy based on a true story, with a heart.

This movie somewhat reminds of me of Hong Kong’s Stephen Chow’s more recent films. There are many actors with not-so-good looking faces employed and the lead actor is usually at times distractingly untidy and bad looking. The jokes are not so conventional and somewhat crude and rude. The filming location is very unpleasant and dirty and most of the time absolutely no eye-candy!

The story has quite an amount of irrelevant silliness that never fails to get the audience in stitches. The whole movie is indeed a platform for Black to showcase his talent. The whole script is written specially for him. Although the story is supposed to show that he cares for the orphans, I feel that Black has no chemistry with them at all. Quite egocentric. I hope it does not get into his head and he will learn to share the screen time with others in the next outing.

The nun is truly beautiful and pleasant to watch. Black’s partner is exactly the reverse. Never mind that, he can make me laugh so it’s ok. The scene that is most memorable to me is where Black breaks out in a song just before his final match about the nun he is in love with. Absolutely hysterical! I would watch this movie again just for that scene.

Rating: 7/10. Jack Black’s specialty at his best

Notes: Just before his final match, Black prays to God for blessings. After he wins the match (like, you didn’t guess already?) it does not show him thanking God. Quite incomplete, like that.

Last updated: 2009-08-11 21:47:02 by joekhor