Dir. Jared Hess, 2006, US, 92 mins
Cast: Jack Black, Ana de la Reguera, Héctor Jiménez
Review by Mike Bartlet
Mucha Lucha!
If that phrase means nothing to you, then you’re probably not one of those people who sneaked home early from work to catch a cult children’s cartoon of the same name on afternoon TV, one set in the world of Lucha Libre. And if that phrase means nothing to you, then the new comedy starring Jack Black is going to be something of a culture shock. Lucha Libre is a bizarre form of wrestling – think the ‘70s antics of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks crossed with the ‘glamorous’ world of WWF and Mexican carnival. The key difference is that each competitor wears a mask and the ultimate humility they can suffer is to have it ripped off in front of the baying audience.
For Black’s character, Ignacio, this would be particularly excruciating as concealing his identity is paramount. In real life, he’s a monk in charge of a group of hungry orphans, and wearing stretchy pants and beating up beefcakes is not part of his holy vows. But he’s obsessed with wrestling and, together with his street urchin pal Esqueleto, he decides to enter the biggest Lucha contest in the area.
We’re in School of Rock territory here, with this film shamelessly trying to ape the winning set-up of that film, with Jack Black again in charge of a group of oddball kids and in defiance of stern authority figures. But the world of Nacho Libre is completely virgin territory for American comedy and so it has a fresh and original feel. True, most of the jokes revolve around Black’s rotundity or his silly Hispanic accent, and bizarrely, the set-piece wrestling sequences are actually the least amusing moments in the film. But there is a kind of innocent joy about the whole thing – recalling the daft antics of Benny Hill or the Carry On team – that means it’s impossible to take against. Ultimately, it’s pure, silly, unadulterated fun, and in an era where film comedies are becoming ever more cynical and knowing, that at least is refreshing.
Basically, what I’m saying is, I liked it, and have a hunch it may be this year’s greatest guilty pleasure. And if nothing else, it’s introduced to the world the marvellous trash classic that is Beck Hansen’s (aka Mr Loco’s) opening song, Real Religious Man, which I’ve not been able to get out of my head since seeing the movie. So, altogether now…
I am, I am
I know I am
I think I am….
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