‘Nacho Libre’ Is Light, Harmless Summer Fare

As we head into the dog days of summer and Hollywood’s final stretch before the end of its biggest season, there’s been much talk about the plethora of comedies featuring men who act like boys who never want to grow up. Whatever one thinks of this genre, the so-called “Frat Pack” – made up of actors like Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Steve Carell and Ben Stiller – has been cleaning up at the box office lately.

Another one of their member, Jack Black, arrives in our area this week with his summer entry into the silly sweepstakes, Nacho Libre, which is directed by Jared Hess, the man behind the cult comedy fave, Napoleon Dynamite.

Now playing at Edmond Town Hall, Nacho Libre features Black as a humble Mexican friar, Ignacio, who dreams of fame and glory as a successful “Luchador” (Spanish for fighter). He toils away as a cook at the monastery where he was raised, but daydreams about following his passion for wrestling.

His flights of fancy begin to take wing upon the arrival of the lovely Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera), a nun who has come to be the young boys’ newest teacher. Inspired by a desire to win her adoration, and fueled by a run-in with a skinny, but fierce street dweller, Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez), who wrestles him for the chips he tries to bring back to the children, Ignacio determines to join forces with his former nemesis, dons mask, flowing cape and “stretchy pants,” and takes on the persona of Nacho Libre to moonlight in the local Lucha Libre contests and win money to buy better food for the kids and earn the new nun’s respect.

If this all sounds a bit loony, well it is. I’ve not even touched upon the juvenile farting jokes, adolescent food gags and the intentionally over-enunciated Mexican accents (and not just on Black, but the Mexican actors as well). Perhaps a prerequisite for watching Nacho Libre (or at least a precondition for finding out if you should even bother going) would be to view Hess’ previous film, Napoleon Dynamite. If you enjoyed that film and its offbeat quirkiness, then you should be well prepared for Nacho Libre. If you found Napoleon Dynamite simply too slow and too weird, then Nacho Libre isn’t for you.

Hess takes the same approach to comedy here, where his film is filled with pauses, off-the-wall situations and very few punchlines. In fact, Hess is very averse to the standard comedic beats of set-ups followed by gags. Having said that, he’s not above setting up sequences that are liable to make some in the audience gag (don’t say I didn’t warn you about the egg scene … you’ll either find it gut-bustingly funny or simply near-nauseating).

As for Black, who is coming off his first fully dramatic role in last year’s King Kong, here he is back to his crazy comedic roots, including brow-raising antics, physical prancing and wacky singing (he uses his fanatical, Meatloaf-like falsetto to great effect in several sequences, not just the closing credits).

The riotously choreographed sequences of the wrestling matches (which are hilarious in and of themselves, though often quite rough) also give him full sway to throw his ample body around and go for broke on nearly every sight gag in the book. But don’t sell Black too short as simply a wild and crazy guy with manic comic tendencies. Just as he showed in School of Rock, he can also be very charming, whether it’s his feeble efforts to win the favor of Sister Encarnacion, or his modest attempt to do right by the children of the monastery. In fact, the film does much, despite some of its inherent childishness, to endear itself to the audience because at heart, it seems to have a good heart.

Nacho Libre is rated PG for some rough action, and crude humor including dialogue. Pay no attention to the men hitting other men over the head with folding chairs (well, maybe you can pay a little attention to that) … this is a silly, but fun movie that doesn’t mean anyone any harm.