Two years after the box office success of Napoleon Dynamite, writer/director Jared Hess returned with the wrestling comedy Nacho Libre. While not a terrible film, it’s not a showcase for his talent as a filmmaker, or the comedic chops of producer/co-writer Mike White and star Jack Black. Instead of the hit it could have been, Nacho Libre is a gimmicky film in need of a better script.
Black stars as Ignacio (his friends call him Nacho) works as a cook in a Mexican monastery. Sent there as a child. Given little money to provide the orphans meals, Nacho devises a plan to make some money. He plans to moonlight a Luchador—flamboyant Mexican wrestler—even though the monastery strictly forbids it. Since Luchador’s are masked that’s not much of a problem. Nacho is also hoping to attract the attention of Sister Encarnación (Ana de la Reguera) a recent arrival at the monastery. Nacho finds a suitable tag-team partner in Steven (Hector Jimenez), a skin-and-bones drifter who goes by the wrestling name Esqueleto and loves corn-on-the-cob. Surprisingly, the duo shows natural talent in the ring.
Written by Jared Hess and his wife Jerusha (with an assist from Mike White), Nacho Libre finds much of its humor from the pastoral Mexican surroundings contrasted with American slang. This quickly gets tiring. Fortunately, the chemistry between Black and Jimenez is obvious. Jimenez is naturally funny, and Black (perhaps realizing this isn’t one of his funnier characters, seems content to let Jimenez take the lead in their scenes together, making one of his trademark faces with plenty of eyebrow trickery.
While the wrestling scenes are well done, Nacho Libre suffers from slow pacing and an inconsistent script. While Hess’s style and trademark humor are available at times, the script is dominated by the kind of sophomoric humor that’s easily dismissed.
Kino Lorber has provided a brand-new master from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. Presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the results are wonderful. With HDR applied, the earth tones that dominate the color palette are wonderfully vivid. Black levels are inky and colors are well saturated. The image is sharp and detailed. A nice level of grain gives things a filmic look. There are a few brief soft spots, but they don’t interfere with the overall viewing experience. This is easily the best Nacho Libre has looked on home video.
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack fits the film well, offering nice oomph to Danny Elfman’s playful score and nice detail to the Latin flavored musical cues sprinkled throughout the movie. The wrestling scenes offer a nice sense of the chaos going on in the ring. Dialogue is clean, clear, and concise throughout.
English SDH subtitles are included.
The following extras are included:
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- Audio Commentary by Star Jack Black, Writer/Director Jared Hess and Co-Writer/Producer Mike White
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- Audio Commentary by Star Jack Black, Writer/Director Jared Hess and Co-Writer/Producer Mike White
- Enter Sister Encarnacion: NEW Interview with Actress Ana de la Reguera
- Detras de la Camara: Featurette
- Jack Black Unmasked!: Featurette
- Exterior – Hacienda – Night: Featurette
- Interior – Lucha Libre Ring – Night: Featurette
- Lucha Libre: Featurette
- Hencho en Mexico: Featurette
- Moviefone Unscripted with Jack Black and Héctor Jiménez: Featurette
- Jack Sings Behind-the-Scenes: La Cancion de Ramses
- La Cancion de Encarnacion
- 3 Deleted Scenes
- 3 Promo Spots
- Theatrical Trailer