An extremely silly movie, this Mexican wrestling comedy from 2006 sees Jack Black (pictured) trying to give a more subtle, less physical performance after School of Rock and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.
Sadly it doesn't always work. Although it's a pleasant, sometimes endearing 88 minutes, there's quite a lot of ho-hum in between the occasional laughs. Black plays Nacho, a downtrodden chef at the Mexican orphanage where he grew up. Cheesed off at not being able to serve up anything that appeals to the growing kids, he devises a plan to become a "luchador" - a wrestler. Enlisting the emaciated Esqueleto the Skeleton (Héctor Jiménez), Black squeezes himself into some spandex in a bid to win cash for the orphans.
This bizarre turn of events does produce the film's finest line, as Black prances about in his quarters, trying on his colourful attire. "When you are a man," Nacho tells one of the orphans, "sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun."
Things hot up considerably when a new nun - Sister Encarnacion (Latin American soapstar Ana de la Reguera) - arrives at the monastery. Nacho tries to win her love, by offering her (of all things) some toast in his quarters. Bad idea.
While the film has its moments - this is Mexican wrestling with a portly actor tackling some rather bonkers opponents in the ring - it's not a classic, but is fine for the kids. Jared Hess, who directed Napoleon Dynamite, fails to produce consistent laughs and the film's potential is never properly fulfilled. Shame really.
Nacho Libre is a Film programme that first aired in 2006 and has been classified a 12 certificate.
