I’ll say it…
I thought Nacho Libre was funny and endearing. I liked the Mexico setting and all the St. Franceses of Assisi. I liked the little kids. I liked the luchadores and the nun and the skinny guy and the explanation for Jack Black looking so white. It made me laugh and, I’ll admit it, one part made me cry.
And it’s getting a lot of bad reviews. This reminds me of when I saw Napoleon Dynamite and liked it, and not only did it get a lot of bad reviews, but people said it was full of racial stereotyping. That annoyed me. I guess they meant racial stereotypes of white people? Like “White people like FFA”? Because, as a Latina, I don’t know any stereotypes about Mexicans running for class president or shaving their heads.
I was expecting Nacho Libre to get the same accusations, since it’s set in Mexico. But I thought a lot of it looked really authentic. I liked that they used real Mexicans (except for Jack Black) and didn’t do the asinine Spanish phrase translation that anyone else would have done.
Mostly, though, I liked the little kids. I think Jack Black has realized just what people will take from him: he needs to balance himself with cute kids, and he can be paired with a pretty romantic interest, as long as we don’t have to see him kiss her. (See: School of Rock.)
Maybe I’m just lowbrow. But if y’all see Nacho Libre and like it, let me know.
