"Yes, I am Nacho...the luchador!" --Ignacio (Nacho) in response to his secret being discovered at the monastery.

And, yes, we saw Nacho Libre this weekend.

Plot summary from the IMDB page: "Nacho (Jack Black) is a young man who was raised in a Mexican monastery in Oaxaca and now works there as the cook, and takes it upon himself to rescue the holy place from financial ruin by joining a local Lucha Libre tournament and becoming one of the "Luchadores." Naturally, Nacho isn't acting out of purely altruistic measures, as he wishes to help Sister Encarnacion (Ana de la Reguera), a beautiful Mexican nun who has recently arrived at the monastery, as well as the gaggle of young orphans who live there."

Believe it or not, the movie is loosely based on the life of Mexican priest Fray Tormenta who spent 23 years as a luchador (wrestler/fighter). Nacho Libre is written and directed by Jared Hess of Napoleon Dynamite fame. This movie has the same kind of humor as in Hess' earlier movie, so however you felt about Napoleon, you will probably feel about Nacho. The humor is hard to describe. It's not the insultingly stupid Dumb and Dumber variety. Rather, Nacho is the kind of unlucky buffoon that an audience can root for while shaking their head and laughing at the same time.

There is much to like here. Outside of Black, all the actors are Mexican, and most of them seem very real, not your usual Hollywood fare--perhaps this will become Hess' trademark: the use of "real" looking actors. If little Chancho were, in fact, a real orphan, I think Kathy and I would just have to adopt him. Further, the movie's fairly clean outside some slightly off-color boyish humor. I don't really remember any profanity at all. Black portrays Nacho as a dimwitted, but likable would-be hero.

The movie has a number of memorable quotes that I'm sure will be repeated ad nauseam in Mexican accents over the next few months just as they have been for Napoleon Dynamite. But the best lines aren't just in the movie: I encourage you to listen to the words in any of the songs playing. They are hilarious all by themselves, especially "My Love Is Like the Nectar" (sung by Black himself) which runs during the end credits. As of this writing, I can't find a CD soundtrack, but if one is eventually released, it would be fun to have.

Don't get your hopes up too high for this film, or you may be disappointed. But if you want to laugh for a couple of hours, Nacho Libre makes for a good escape.

"I was wondering if you would like to join me in my quarters this night... for some toast." --Ignacio upon meeting Sister Encarnacion.