2008 Woodie Awards
Fun 'Nacho Libre' DVD in stores
Landon Allen
Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Jack Black plays a Mexican friar who has a private dream of becoming the greatest luchador (that's a wrestler) to ever live.
It is written and directed by Jared Hess, creator of another absolute favorite of mine, Napoleon Dynamite.
Now I tend to be more critical of comedies than any other genre of movie, and that may be why I don't see many comedies that really spark my interest.
It's not that I don't like to laugh. That's just it, I love to laugh! And these days, most movies, especially comedies, lack originality.
There's only so many times you can laugh at one person or laugh at one type of joke.
With that said, Black does bring a lot of his typical self into this role.
But the character of Nacho is so much different than many of the roles Black has played that you still are able to laugh when he does start his "deedle deedle dee"-ing and his one-eyebrow-raising, because by that point you haven't already gotten sick of it.
Nacho Libre brings an originality I haven't seen since ... well, Napoleon Dynamite. The credit has to go to writer/director Hess.
With both of his films, he manages to bring a PG movie that creates a constant flow of laughs instead of a "waiting-for-the-punch-line" type of comedy.
By that I mean, when you watch Naploeon Dynamite or Nacho Libre, nothing even needs to be said.
Just seeing the character sit there is enough to make you laugh.
You know it's the director's intention when all his characters are used in that same way.
From Pedro Sanchez (Napoleon Dynamite) to Esquelito, Nacho's tag team partner, every character is like a cartoon with their own distinct physical attributes.
Hess focuses on physical comedy. On paper, Black playing the bass or eating an eagle egg just isn't that funny.
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