Nacho’s sidekick Esqueleto (Héctor Jiménez), brought very little to the movie. With the exception of his skinny and disheveled appearance, he was not amusing in the least. The sad truth is that Nacho Libre doesn’t have many truly funny moments. There were, however, a handful of fart jokes and some typical slapstick humour, which served as an unfortunate reminder that this is, in fact, a Nickelodeon movie.
I did like the cinematography and some of the music (which is apparently a disorganized jumble of scores written separately by Danny Elfman and Beck, although neither of them wanted to be associated with the project when all was said and done). Mostly though, it just seems like Hess was trying too hard to be quirky and the movie ends up falling flat.
Younger viewers may enjoy the movie for its kooky visuals, and die-hard Napoleon Dynamite fans can probably force themselves to laugh at it if they try hard enough, but for everyone else, Nacho Libre will be a disappointment.
Knowing that Napoleon Dynamite’s popularity took time to build, this could be a movie that works better with repeat viewings. The problem is, there are no memorable one-liners and no classic characters (save for one) worth making action figures out of. I can’t, in good conscience, award Nacho Libre any more than 2 out of 4 flying elbow drops to the head.
Article comments
1 - Iloz Zoc
Aye Caramba! You'ld think the wonderful world of Luchadores, mixed with Jack Black would be a surefire winner. I guess the director should have viewed a few of the old black and white mexican wrestler versus vampires--and other assorted monsters--flicks to get a better handle on where the story could have been taken. Now, Jack Black fighting vampires as a luchador would have been awesome!
2 - raqchel
i love the little hug big kiss little kiss kiss kiss thing