Nacho Libre (2006) - Black and Hess triumph with underrated comedy bullion

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+ Best Farce of the Year + Best Poster of the Year

 

Jack Black looks utterly hilarious with blown-up hair and a blown-out red cape on this fantastic poster for Jared Hess' Nacho Libre

Ignacio is a Catholic friar brother in an orphanage with dreams of wrestling greatness, when a new female nun catches his attention, and he begins to tempt fate by doing underground luchero [Mexican-style wrestling] fights.

 

Nacho Libre is written by Mike White (Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)), Jerusha Hess and great Arizonian filmmaker, co-writer/director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite (2004), both).

Impassioned Nacho may be Jack Black's (The Office (2009, TV-series)) best balls-out comical performance of all. Nacho Libre is an enthusiastic film in every way. Héctor Jiménez (Cómo Filmar Una XXX (2017)) is also hilarious as his sidekick, saying rip-roaring lines such as, "I hate all the orphans of the world!"

There are many entertaining fights.

Some of Nacho Libre's perceived 'innocence' as a film really stems from under-addressed Catholic problems: Jiménez's character's homosexuality, and the impossibility of Ignacio's flirt with the nun are never directly addressed. But the overwhelming amount of laughs are unmistakable. Nacho Libre is a riot.

 

Related posts:

 

Jared Hess: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) - You'll wanna visit Preston, Idaho! 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 35 mil. $

Box office: 99.2 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.83 times its cost)

[Nacho Libre was released 16 June (North America) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place around September 2005 in Mexico and California. Hess had a falling out with studio backer Paramount, because the latter would not accept Beck's score for the film and instead hired Danny Elfman to compose a new score. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Cars, to a 28.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#5-#5), grossing 80.1 mil. $ (80.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.3 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Mexico with 4.4 mil. $ (4.4 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. Hess returned with Gentlemen Broncos (2009). Black returned in Eagles of Death Metal: I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News) (2006, music video) and theatrically in Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006). Nacho Libre is rotten at 40 % with a 5.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Nacho Libre?

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) - You'll wanna visit Preston, Idaho!

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+ Best Dance Movie of the Year + Best Dollar Return of the Year: 115.25 Times the Cost + Best Idahoan Movie of the Year + Best High School Movie of the Year + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Low-Budget Movie of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year

Jon Heder looks, well, ridiculous in moonboots and a brown suit on this funny poster for Jared Hess' Napoleon Dynamite

In small Idaho town Preston, Napoleon lives with his grandmother and uncle. His best friend is Pedro, who is running for student president at their high school. And a dance there is fast approaching.

Napoleon Dynamite is written by Jerusha Hess and her husband, debuting great Arizonan co-writer/director Jared Hess (Don Verdean (2015)). This cursing and sex-free teenage romcom lights up with originality and humanity in all of its groovy parts.
We are invited to get to know all the weirdos, all the imperfect people of Preston, and if the script is a bit lean, the film makes up for it with wonderful music and precise, memorable photography full of good, static compositions, (by Munn Powell (Gentlemen Broncos (2009))). And, of course, Jon Heder (Wildlife (2014, short)) is a dancing sensation as the title character, and Efren Ramirez (Mad Families (2017)) is hilarious as his buddy Pedro.

 

Related post:

 

Jared Hess: 2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here 

Cost: 400k $
Box office: 46.1 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 115.25 times its cost)
[Napoleon Dynamite premiered 17 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 95 minutes. The film is inspired by Hess' short film Peluca (2003). Shooting took place in Idaho, including the real Preston, and in Utah in 23 days from July - August 2003. A reportedly substantial part of the tiny budget was spent on music rights licensing. Heder was paid only 1,000 $ for his performance but later renegotiated and received an undisclosed cut of the film's profits. The film opened #29 to a 116k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #8 and in 1,024 theaters, grossing 44.5 mil. $ (96.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1 mil. $ (2.2 %) and Australia with 0.38 mil. $ (0.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches worse than this one. It was nominated for 3 Independent Spirit awards and a Grammy, among other honors. The cast and filmmakers returned with a same-titled TV-series in 2012, which was canceled after 6 episodes. Hess returned with The Postal Service: We Will Become Silhouettes (2005, short) and theatrically with Nacho Libre (2006). Heder returned in 2 shorts and a TV-series, before he returned to the big screen in Just Like Heaven (2005). Napoleon Dynamite is fresh at 71 % with a 6.31/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Napoleon Dynamite?