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by Flick Chick Vique Rojas

Our movie reviewer, Flick Chick Vique Rojas gives us her take on Nacho Libre

I give Nacho Libre 4.5 Red Vines!  Yeah, really!!!

I saw Napoleon Dynamite on opening day. Unfortunately for me, the rest of the world didn’t seem to catch up until 6 months later. I was hungry to talk to someone about this bizarre little gem of a movie made by a group of relative unknowns. In my quest for info I stumbled upon a review in Entertainment Weekly Online. The critic hated-no-loathed the movie. I couldn't believe my eyes! 

Well, by now everyone knows that audiences everywhere seemed to share my passion for the film and not the critic’s disdain. The movie that won me over right from the beginning with its clever credits over frozen TV dinners went on to be a cult phenom that even middle America embraced.

I am here to tell you that in my humble opinion, even though critics are once again bashing the husband and wife writing/directing team Jared and Jerusha Hess, the couple have outdone their freshman effort with the absolutely hilarious Nacho Libre! There is so much love and care in the making of this movie and it shows in every perfectly composed frame. Like Napoleon D., impeccable attention to detail shines in sets, costumes and the memorable landscape of interesting faces and characters.

The movie about a monk, Ignacio (Jack Black) who moonlights as a luchador (Mexican wrestler Nacho Libre) to make money to better feed his orphans is big on heart and huge on laughs. Jack Black demonstrates a no-holds barred commitment to comedy that is so reminiscent of a young John Belushi. Funny, he's never struck me as that before but he sure did in this flick. His facial expressions, unabashed parading around in tights that are, well, tight on his ample physique are complimented nicely by possibly the worst Spanish accent you've ever heard. Something like Christopher Walken doing Billy Crystal doing Ricardo Montalban! Yikes!

Black is kept in good company by an outstanding supporting cast of Mexican actors you most likely have never heard of before. Ana de la Reguera (Sister Encarnacion), who bears a striking resemblance to a young Penelope Cruz, plays the beautiful nun and object of Ignacio's forbidden crush. Matching Black laugh for laugh is Héctor Jiménez, making his American film debut as Esqueleto, Nacho's tag team luchador partner. Watching two guys get the holy fríjoles beat out of them has never been so funny!

During the film, I started thinking how much like Tim Burton Jared Hess is turning out to be. I say that because love 'em or hate 'em, Burton's films are so detail-oriented. Then I found out that Danny Elfman composed all the original music for Nacho Libre.... just like he does for Tim Burton!

All in all, I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and thoroughly enjoyed a movie. Napoleon Dynamite? No, this time I laughed even more. I predict Nacho Libre is going to be huge. But unlike Napoleon D., it's not opening quietly in a few art houses. This is a full frontal assault on America by a household name. And this is one match that Nacho will walk away from a big winner!

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