Movie Of The Week – Nacho Libre

Nacho Libre is a luchador (Mexican wrestler) that teams up with Esqueleto in this Nickelodeon movie, to help the orphanage that he lives in and works for that is ran by the church. Under the mask, Ignacio is a good person and devout Christian who only wants to live his dream, however, he meets a conflict between his religious views and his personal goals whenever he is told time and time again that wrestling is a sin and that the only time fighting is permitted is whenever there is a just and righteous reason behind it. But, Ignacio is determined because he knows in his heart that what he is doing is the right thing.

Ignacio was raised in the same, poor orphanage that he cooks for. He is not tired of his faith, but he is worn out by the lack of nutritious food and liveliness in the orphans drives him to start a new hobby- To start his secret life as a luchador. Of course, nearly all of the money he is making goes towards the orphans… Once he realizes that he in fact is fighting for a good cause, he becomes more determined than ever to live out his dream.

Is this movie funny? Yeah, absolutely! Jack Black is a brilliant man and his delivery is great. This movie’s humor is a lot like Napoleon Dynamite’s, except with Jack Black’s spin on it. Napoleon Dynamite simply isn’t funny to me, but Nacho Libre has a special kind of warm-hearted humor that can’t be hated. Both of the movies share many similarities, including the hipster-style music.

The film was loosely based off of the story of Fray Tomenta, (Real name Rev. Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez who is pictured to the right) – a Mexican priest-turned wrestler who entered the ring to raise money for an orphanage for over 23 years! The real-life story that this is based off of is one reason why this movie has such a harmonious plot, but one thing that makes this movie one of my absolutely all times favorites is not the plot, or catchy music, or quirky jokes… but it’s the ending. I think out of all of the movies that I’ve seen, this has one of the most inspirational, spiritual, courageous endings. This is a bold claim, but I feel that this movie’s ending is the perfect way to wrap up the kind of story-line that this movie promotes. I feel that this movie is one of the most under-rated movies of 2006 and perhaps of all time. The movie was well received as a child’s movie, but I feel like even adults can get a good message out of it.
Of course, the ending isn’t as good as Toy Story 3′s or Inglorious Basterds’ endings.

Rotten Tomatoe score: 57%
IMDb score: 7.3/10

Tags: Gutiérrez Benítez, hipster, Inglorious Basterds, Jack Black, Mexico, Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, Nickelodeon, Spanish, Toy Story, Wrestling