Nacho Libre

Jack Black, the funniest man in Hollywood, is back as Ignacio, a Mexican Friar determined to give something back to the orphanage that raised him. When the orphanage runs short on funds, he begins to moonlight as a wrestler, with his eyes fixed on the top prize for the Lucha Libre, the local wrestling contest and eventually finding a talent that has been latent all his life. As Lucha is forbidden by the elders at the monastery, Ignacio lives a secret double life, by day the aimless cook at a poor church orphanage, by night an increasingly famous Lucha wrestler. Nacho Libre (as he calls himself) is the surprise hit on the wrestling circuit, with his equally unlikely tag-team partner, the skinny Esqueleto (the skeleton). Of course, the plot is thickened by a love-interest – the beautiful and lovely Sister Encarnacion, who agrees with the rest of the monastery that wrestling is bad for the soul.

Black is on top form as the innocent, lovable loser Ignacio, well supported by Mexican born Hector Jiminez, who stars perfectly as Black’s skinny, outcast wrestling partner, and a wonderful foil for his particular brand of slapstick. Hess’ superb direction turns it into more than just a stew of fart jokes and Black flexing his bum in bad tights, leading the film into the territory of the eccentric and the bizarre over the downright absurd. This film is whimsical, magical, and incredibly funny.

Rachel Crofts