Nacho Libre
2006
Screenplay: Jared Hess & Jerusha Hess & Mike White
Directed by: Jared Hess
The delicate equilibrium of this gastronomical holocaust is thrown way off-kilter by the arrival of Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera), one hot nun assigned to teach at the monastery for plot reasons. She is, after all, the only female at the monastery and only one of four women in the entire film. The brothers go gaga for her, Ignacio in particular, which might’ve been weird in a “Thorn Birds” sort of way if Ignacio were better at the monk thing than he actually is. His passions lie elsewhere. Ignacio is secretly a fan of Lucha Libre, the fantastically outlandish world of masked Mexican wrestlers, and fanaticizes daily about becoming a Luchadore himself. Secretly, because as Sister Encarnacion points out, Lucha Libre is sinful act performed by vanity-driven bullies. Score one for the penguin. Nevertheless, when the opportunity to win a few pesos for fresh ingredients at a bottom-rung match comes along, Ignacio jumps at it. He makes a mask, teams up with the toughest guy he knows - Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez), a corn-obsessed beanpole who once mugged Ignacio for a bag of week-old tortilla chips - and enters the ring as Nacho, his long-suppressed dream come true. |
It helps that everybody’s so strange. Paring up Black and Jimenez - pure comic gold, there - is just the start of the freakishness. Casting “Nacho” must’ve been a process of weeding out all the normal and semi-normal-looking people from the audition line. De la Reguera is the sole exception, towering in her beauty and purity. Put next to this cast, she could easily become the first Catholic saint to grace the cover of Maxim. “Nacho” does have more plot than “Napoleon,” for what that’s worth. Nacho and Esqueleto fight a whole roster of Luchadores, including the world’s most dangerous midgets, in a series of entertaining, acrobatic bouts leading to a knuckle-duster against their loutish former idol, Ramses (real-life wrestler Eduardo Gomez). Victory and defeat both give Ignacio newfound resources to impress Sister Encarnacion (“woo” is far too strong a word), but the thrill of combat causes him to loose focus on his all-important orphan flock... the very reason he got into the ring in the first place. If you’re taking that twist at all seriously, odds are you think you’re watching an entirely different film. Something with Meryl Streep, perhaps. |
DATE MOVIE POTENIAL: YELLOW LIGHT
You have to get into the spirit of Hess’ warped universe or you’ll just feel trapped there, and “trapped” does not a good evening make. On the other hand, if you and your beau know what a Lyger is and think it’s still funny to bring the topic up in conversation, this is Date Heaven in a tidy 92 minute package.