Product Details

• Actors: Jack Black, Ana de la Reguera, Efren Ramirez, Héctor Jiménez, Darius Rose
• Directors: Jared Hess
• Writers: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess, Mike White
• Producers: Ben LeClair, Benjamin Cooley, Damon Ross, David Klawans
• Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 24, 2006
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (363 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HRMAPO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,560 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Nacho Libre (Special Collector's Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This Jack Black vehicle seems, on the surface, like a perfect fit for the actor: an opportunity to showcase Black's unique style with the extreme facial gestures and exuberant physicality that have become his forte. Black plays Ignacio, a lowly cook in a monastery in central Mexico who feeds orphans by day, and wrestles in the town square at night. Ignacio teams up with Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez), a street urchin who tormented him, to form a tag-team duo that goes up against the strangest wrestlers Mexico has to offer. Besides doing it for money to feed the orphans, Ignacio is also fighting to win the forbidden affections of Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera) with predictable difficulty. While the movie has likeable characters and the plot is enjoyable enough, it can’t overcome its plodding pace and formulaic structure enough to keep the movie interesting throughout. Jack Black is a very strong comedic actor, and the wrestling scenes offer plenty of chances for slapstick, physical comedy, but watching him run around in red briefs and blue tights amounts to half the laughs in the movie, and there’s just not enough here for him to really work with. When he plays a more well-formed character, as in School of Rock and High Fidelity, his strengths really show. But in Nacho Libre he’s saddled with a caricature. Weighed down by too much low-brow humor and a script that goes nowhere, Nacho Libre just can’t make full enough use of Black’s talents to overcome the obstacles. --Daniel Vancini

Product Description

Jack Black is at his comic best as Ignacio, a disrespected cook at a Mexican monastery that can barely afford to feed the orphans who live there. Inspired by a local wrestling hero, he decides to moonlight as the not-so-famous Luchador "Nacho Libre" to earn money for the monastery -- not to mention the admiration of beautiful nun Sister Encarnacion.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than you might expect October 30, 2006

By Ann Arbor doc

Format:DVD

Much better than most comedies; you do have to have a sense of humor to enjoy it, so if you rarely laugh, don't go to this movie. Kind hearted and humorous portrayal of Mexican culture; if you have lived in Mexico as I have, you should enjoy this. Also it's refresing to see a movie that can be humorous without resorting to overt sexual conversations.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars classic Jack Black October 16, 2006

By Andrew Olson

Format:DVD

It's good to know that farce is alive and well in the world. Since the mid 90's it feels like film makers have lost their grip on truly great weird comedy. Movies that speak to the few and turn off the rest. It seems that even as the tools to unlock our imaginations get flashier and flashier, and special effect budgets grow and grown, American film grow static and stale. Then when it seems like all hope is lost, a film like NACHO LIBRE comes along.

Somewhere in Mexico, a young priest named Nacho (Jack Black) longs to be recognized. He's tired of serving the same bland food to the young boys in his charge. He's tired of being disrespected by the other priests. He longs to be a luchadore (a Mexican wrestler), and to gain the affections of the stunning Sister Encarnacion (Ana del la Regura). Then when all hope is lost he teams up with a new friend named Esquelta, and takes the Mexican wrestling world by storm. Will the orphan boys get better food? Will Nacho win the heart of Sister Encarnacion? Will he lose everything he has, on a quest to become a great warrior? Giving this movie its due will provide those answers and more. The movie not perfect. It's a little overly long and some of the jokes fall flat on their face. But there is an earnestness and a sweet gentility in the film that will win you over. You cannot enter this movie with the wrong attitude and if you don't like weird movies its not for you. But if you let it entertain you and if you give into the fact that it really bizarre, it will work. You have to take every scene with grain of salt and logic must be thrown out the window. But if you turn off that part of your brain that strives for everything to be plausible, than this film will entertain.

Then for no apparent reason the movie does something I didn't quite expect, it begins to tackle a serious subject. Behind all the silliness is a story about how legalism traps us in a place of boredom and predictability. Whether it be religious legalism or secular legalism, NACHO LIBRE is about a misfit who succeeds because he goes out on a limb. He doesn't give up his religious fervor when the chips are down, when his atheist friend tells him to give into science and logic, and he doesn't give up on God because men of cloth treat him badly. He stays true to his faith and not his religion. This message is not beaten over the audiences head. This is not a religious picture. But it gives the film a dimension that I didn't expect.

Director Jared Hess doesn't stray to far from his Napoleon Dynamite roots. But that's okay. It works here and he hits the right comic tones. I can't wait to get the DVD because I'm convinced that the film really needs to be viewed a second time. (I'm reviewing this based off the movie, not the actual DVD; I have yet to get that.) Knowing what to expect allows the audience to settle into Hess' skewed comedy. The film is very dry and if you don't know what to expect its easy to dismiss the comedy and think the film is horrible. You have to work at it a little bit and let it sink in. But when you get it you'll love it.

If you're looking for an hour and half of silliness you can't go wrong with NACHO LIBRE. It's cute, sweet, and you get to stare at Jack Black's upper torso for far too long. Trust me- if you like weirdly sweet Mexican wrestling comedies, this is the film for you.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nacho ==== Friar Storm November 3, 2006

By RISS

Format:DVD

A great Movie. FYI. Nacho does exist in real life, his name is Fray Tormenta(Friar Storm) and is/was a Wrestler now a Teacher/Master and the story is the same a Friar/Priest who wrestles to help ophan kids !!!

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