Nacho Libre Is Mucho Amusing

In the middle of that week, and the 7 hour process of writing Day 5 of the Tales from the Sea Side puppet skits, I took a break and took Ashley to Nacho Libre, which I was anticipating because it was written and directed by Jared Hess, the one responsible for Napolean Dynamite.

I will start with a disclaimer. If you did not like Napolean Dynamite and are not a fan of Jack Black, avoid it. You will not enjoy this movie. If you are one or the other or both, you will probably like it. Half of the movie's appeal is the odd and quirky style of Jared Hess, the other half is Jack Black being Jack Black, only completely clean.

I will start by saying I am very pleased with the writing combo of Jared and his wife Jerusha Hess. They are odd, clever, and off center in their approach, but they are also committed to making their movies family friendly. There is no language or sexual content in this movie, and the only violence is silly wrestling violence.

The story, very loosely based on a true one, focuses on a bumbleing fryar (Jack Black) who is the cook at a poor Mexican orphanage and has a fascination with wrestling. Into town comes a new nun teacher, Sister Encarnacion, who catches the attention of Jack, who is pretty much a monk because there is nothing else for him to do. One day he is going to town to pick up the corn chip donation from a local bakery when he is attacked by the a poor street kid. The kid is a great fighter and ends up getting away with the chips. Later in town he sees a sign advertising money for participating in a wrestling match, so he finds and teams up with the street guy. This becomes his "other" life. That is how the movie starts out.

What I admire most about the Hess' work is that their characters, as bizarre as they are, keep just enough touch of reality to be lovable and real. They also look real. Jared doesn't "Hollywood-ize" his movie stars. They are plain people. The beautiful people aren't so beautiful they are fake. The ugly characters are realistically ugly, made that way by a hard working life, but he goes past the exterior to find a beautiful spirit within them. He has this way of showing real humanity and making it beautiful and completely hilarious and bizarre all at the same time. I look forward to whatever Jared Hess does next. He is 2 for 2.

Nacho Libre 4 1/2 Canaries out of 5.
(Napolean Dynamite was a 5)

-written to Solomon's Wish-"A Wise Man's Tragedy..."