This Jack Black comedy sees him playing Nacho, a young monk working as a cook in the remote Mexican monastery/orphanage where he was raised. As a child he dreamt of becoming a luchador, wrestler, but this is forbidden as such activities are seen as a sign of vanity. He regularly goes into town to get food for the orphans and one day he is robbed by a street thief, Steven. Shortly afterwards he sees champion masked luchador Ramses being mobbed by fans... he has a plan. He persuades Steven to become a tag-wrestler with him; if he wears a mask the monastery won't find out what he is doing. They aren't very good at wrestling but still they get paid so continue, determined to get better and turn professional so he can buy a bus for the orphans and thus impress the attractive Sister Encarnación.

Not surprisingly this film is very silly; thankfully it also provides lots of laughs. Much of this is physical with fights that are funny but still feel like the characters are wrestling and some hilarious training scenes. Jack Black is hilarious as Nacho; his put-on Mexican accent is so ridiculous it is funny rather than offensive. Héctor Jiménez is equally funny as his wrestling partner Steven. The rest of the cast are solid although their characters are mostly not comically. The story doesn't deliver any real surprises but it does serve to deliver the laughs. Overall this may be fairly light weight but I'd recommend it to anybody wanting a good laugh and little to cause offence.

From PASTO, COLOMBIA-Via: L. A. CA; CALI, COLOMBIA &ORLANDO, FL

Nacho Libre barely had 10 million(US) at its disposal to cover the cost of its production. With the exception of Jack Black(School of Rock, King Kong),there really is no cast member who is well-known outside of the USA. In the Hispanic world, Ana de la Reguera is known for numerous appearances in soap operas and movies, but for the English-speaking audience, she is a complete unknown...at least until the release of Nacho Libre.

Directed and written by Jared Hess(Napoleon Dynamite) a director who has gained a well-earned reputation for going against all the Hollywood rules of "Formula". To enjoy the schizophrenic world of Nacho Libre, however, you don't have to be to be a genius. It is a uniquely original and zany vision that no one could possibly confuse with reality. However, it is the kind of film that does not frame itself very well in high expectations. It is somewhat counterproductive to announce beforehand, "Oh, now here we have a very amusing and hilarious movie". (Despite the fact that for my wife, Carmen and I, "LIBRE" most certainly was both!)

Perhaps the main attraction here is a surreal simplicity, innocence and freshness, and that its basic raison d'etre is so utterly hair-brained and absurd...but in the best possible way! Shouldn't go into much more detail here, so as not to ruin it for you with anything resembling a Spoiler. But taking this into account, I will dare to offer the following observations: Another interesting element of LIBRE is that, seemingly, it was made tailored to seek out a new market in the United States...The bilingual movie buff! (at least "new" in relation to film production.) Jack Black is listed as the sole producer. That is, he put up his own money betting there would be a receptive bilingual viewing audience segment! .

It must be noted, however, that there are a number of attempts at humor that flat out do not work in LIBRE. But these flubs, fortunately, are handily outnumbered by scenes that DO produce considerable laughter. The sight of Nacho Libre and his tag-teammate "Esqueleto" ("Skeleton") wrestling and taking on the world is about as close as I ever want to come to dying of laughter! The love songs composed and sung by Jack Black are so slapstick operatic exaggerated, so insanely ridiculous and so poorly rendered, that they end up being immensely entertaining.

Most certainly, Nacho Libre is not a classic of the Seventh Art that will be much debated ten years in the future. But it definitely will keep you laughing a lot during an hour and a half of your life!

8*.... ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!!!

I make no apologies for liking this movie. It seemed everyone at the video store, from the manager on down, all thought otherwise....but I took a shot, rented it, and laughed my butt off watching this film. Now I own it.

Jack Black was hilarious as the monk-pro wrestling wannabe "Nacho." The premise alone is humorous: an overweight Mexican monk who would rather be a famous wrestler. It doesn't say much for his spirituality, but it made for a lot of laughs.

It's all outrageous, absurd humor, not meant to do anything but evoke laughs, at any cost......just harmless fun. Detractors should keep that in mind.

I have no interest in wrestling but the wrestling scenes in this film had me constantly laughing out loud. Black's tag-team partner, "Esquelito" (Hector Jimenez) was just as funny as the main star, if not funnier. Just the look on his face with all his teeth sticking out was funny!

I have no interest in being a monk, either, but I know none of these "monks" in here were realistic figures, especially the nun: "Sister Encarcion" (Ana de la Reguera ). No offense, but only in the movies are nuns this beautiful. Wow, Reguera looked like a cross between Penelope Cruz and a young Winona Ryder. And, she wasn't just beautiful, but a sweet lady, too.

Although it's a comedy, the story had some nice touches of sentimentality and humanity, namely: "Nacho's" attitude adjustment, his genuine compassion for orphaned kids that the Brothers and Sisters took care of, and his basic desire to do good despite a very weak commitment to "vows."

Maybe that's why there are so many critics of this film: it wasn't mean-edged and nasty enough to satisfy them. However,those who appreciate good slapstick will like this movie.

Also, if you appreciate bold, beautiful colors, you'll find this an attractive movie. There was a feast of brilliant colors shown. I was impressed how much effort was made to make this movie look nice in addition to getting laughs.

In, a very, very pleasant surprise: much better than I ever hoped it would be....and recommended for those wanting a bunch of belly laughs for an hour-and-a-half.