extra cheese!!!
Jack Black plays a priest who, due to an obsession for wrestling, decides to become a luchador (Mexican wrestler). A pretty funny premise for a silly comedy and if that wasn’t enough, it is directed by the man responsible for the indie phenomenon, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. The result is the sloppy mess by the name of NACHO LIBRE.
Before anyone criticizes me of being too pretentious. I realize that NACHO LIBRE is a silly comedy and that is what I was looking for. The fact is... it didn’t make me laugh. I did not find this movie funny. There are only two times when I chuckled and that makes this “silly comedy” a failure in my eyes.
Now why did the movie fail?
This is an amateur display of filmmaking. The construction is sloppy and there is little to no point to any scene, many of which seem to begin and end at random. While there is a funny premise and potential for a story and fun characters, they are sacrificed for silly fart jokes and sophomoric attempts at humor. There are points in the movie that they are trying so hard to get a laugh where a laud fart noise is inserted. No reason. I guess Jordan Hess (the director) feels that farts are funny.
Then there is the matter of the execution of the film. The foundation of the movie is the wrestling. Nacho loves wrestling and aspires to be good. It turns out that he is terrible and that is where it is supposed to be fun and silly. The problem is that the wrestling scenes are so poorly handled with the apparent lack of choreography, that there are no real payoffs to the fights and matches. It is not funny that he loses, but it should be funny how he loses. Hess tries to compensate by having Nacho wrestle ridiculous characters such as two fierce midgets that look like they are part lion. It is not funny, but just stupid.
Then there is the role of Nacho’s partner. All of his humor is that he is really skinny (Nacho is not) and he has really messed up teeth and an extremely toothy smile. So when we are supposed to “laugh” they cut to a shot of the partner and his stupid smile. I’m sorry, but I want a little more to a joke than a toothy smile. Most of Jack Black’s jokes are simply that he speaks in a Mexican accent. It doesn’t matter what he says, but that he has an accent. With the talent involved in this film, they couldn’t come up with some funny lines? No.
The “heart” of NACHO LIBRE is two fold. First there is the love that Nacho has for the orphans at his church. He constantly says that he cares about the children, but we never really see it. But since he says it a lot, that should be enough, right? Then there is the poorly developed romance between Nacho and the new nun who looks like Penelope Cruz’s younger sister. There is never one moment where I bought the mutual attraction or any connection of a real level. I know that it is a “silly comedy”, but the comedy didn’t work, so I was hoping that it might have some heart so I could care about someone. I did not.
NACHO LIBRE is a cheap looking, poorly executed, sloppy excuse for a comedy. If you laughed at the trailer, my advice would be to leave it at that and avoid the movie. The trailer has more laughs than the entire film. I like Jack Black and it is a shame to see his talent completely wasted.
Before anyone criticizes me of being too pretentious. I realize that NACHO LIBRE is a silly comedy and that is what I was looking for. The fact is... it didn’t make me laugh. I did not find this movie funny. There are only two times when I chuckled and that makes this “silly comedy” a failure in my eyes.Now why did the movie fail?
This is an amateur display of filmmaking. The construction is sloppy and there is little to no point to any scene, many of which seem to begin and end at random. While there is a funny premise and potential for a story and fun characters, they are sacrificed for silly fart jokes and sophomoric attempts at humor. There are points in the movie that they are trying so hard to get a laugh where a laud fart noise is inserted. No reason. I guess Jordan Hess (the director) feels that farts are funny.
Then there is the matter of the execution of the film. The foundation of the movie is the wrestling. Nacho loves wrestling and aspires to be good. It turns out that he is terrible and that is where it is supposed to be fun and silly. The problem is that the wrestling scenes are so poorly handled with the apparent lack of choreography, that there are no real payoffs to the fights and matches. It is not funny that he loses, but it should be funny how he loses. Hess tries to compensate by having Nacho wrestle ridiculous characters such as two fierce midgets that look like they are part lion. It is not funny, but just stupid. 
Then there is the role of Nacho’s partner. All of his humor is that he is really skinny (Nacho is not) and he has really messed up teeth and an extremely toothy smile. So when we are supposed to “laugh” they cut to a shot of the partner and his stupid smile. I’m sorry, but I want a little more to a joke than a toothy smile. Most of Jack Black’s jokes are simply that he speaks in a Mexican accent. It doesn’t matter what he says, but that he has an accent. With the talent involved in this film, they couldn’t come up with some funny lines? No.
The “heart” of NACHO LIBRE is two fold. First there is the love that Nacho has for the orphans at his church. He constantly says that he cares about the children, but we never really see it. But since he says it a lot, that should be enough, right? Then there is the poorly developed romance between Nacho and the new nun who looks like Penelope Cruz’s younger sister. There is never one moment where I bought the mutual attraction or any connection of a real level. I know that it is a “silly comedy”, but the comedy didn’t work, so I was hoping that it might have some heart so I could care about someone. I did not.
NACHO LIBRE is a cheap looking, poorly executed, sloppy excuse for a comedy. If you laughed at the trailer, my advice would be to leave it at that and avoid the movie. The trailer has more laughs than the entire film. I like Jack Black and it is a shame to see his talent completely wasted.
posted by Humby | 2:20 AM
5 Comments:
they make movies from the perspective of 10 year olds cause most of them are still acting like kids
In response to Jakemeister's comment: I have a ten-year-old kid; these movies are not made for them, but for juveniles in adult bodies. While my children love Napoleon Dynamite for (whatever the reasons are they love it--I'm over 40) and while they enjoyed the broad humor of the new Pink Panther, they are as harsh as any adult on a film that has no point. Yes the trailer looks funny, and I might have liked to see the film. This and other reviews, however are leading me to wait until it shows up on a high-number cable station.
I saw the movie Wednesday night when my friend's theater got the print and I snuck in and saw it for free. My heart just sank when I saw that the movie had a Nickelodeon Production Tag on it. When I saw that brand, I knew that this movie would have no edge, and was safe enough to put the Kid Approved stamp on it. Everything you wrote in the blog was true, the scene when Nacho flies off his funky motorscooter did not even get one laugh in the theater. The Hess brothers need to show that they can make a movie outside of the shadow of Dynamite. If you have a talent like Jack Black you need to use him. Jon Heder could have easily played the one dimensional Nacho character. I was truly disappointed in the film and I feel that CBS-Viacom-Paramount's synergy is to blame for not allowing a little more freedom in the film. Then again Hess is Mormon, and those clean fun family values might have done the trick too.
PS- What was that poop scene? First time ever I saw poop used in a comedy and not even get a slight smile from me.
I laughed my butt off. The audience was cracking up the entire time. The jokes were so stupid, but you burst out laughing anyway. I guess I'm not a high-brow, but at least I enjoy the simple things. Cheers!
I freakin laughed so hard in the movie.. Im spanish so I understand it way better so i would think its way funnier for spanish people
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