Nacho Libre

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Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jared Hess
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Xavier Grobet
Edited by Billy Weber
Music by Danny Elfman [a]
Production
companies
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • June 16, 2006 (2006-06-16)(United States)
  • August 11, 2006 (2006-08-11)(Mexico)
Running time
92 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States [2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million [3] [4]
Box office$99 million [3]

Nacho Libre is a 2006 American sports comedy film written by Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess, and Mike White, and directed by Jared Hess. It stars Jack Black as Ignacio, a Catholic friar and secret lucha libre fan who moonlights as a luchador to earn money for the orphanage where he works. The film is loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta ("Friar Storm"), a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who had a 23-year career as a masked luchador to support the orphanage he directed. [5] The film was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Black & White Productions. [6]

Contents

Nacho Libre was released on June 16, 2006, by Paramount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $99 million at the worldwide box-office against its $35 million production budget.

Plot

Ignacio is a friar and cook for the Oaxaca monastery orphanage where he was raised. He dreams of becoming a luchador , but wrestling is strictly forbidden by the monastery as it is considered a sin of vanity. Though Ignacio cares deeply for the orphans, he is unable to provide decent meals for them due to a lack of funds. He also struggles with his feelings for Sister Encarnación, a nun who recently arrived to teach at the orphanage. One night, Ignacio is mugged of the orphanage's tortilla chips by a street thief. On the way back to the orphanage, Ignacio sees his idol, an enormous gold-masked luchador champion named Ramses, giving autographs and being bombarded by paparazzi in the streets, as well as a flyer for an amateur tag team wrestling match.

The next day, following a disastrous lunch service, a fed up Ignacio decides to disregard the monastery's rules by secretly becoming a luchador to both fulfill his dream as well as to make money for the orphanage. He finds the man who robbed him, an atheist named Steven, and convinces him to join him by promising to share the prize money if they win. The two join the advertised match as tag partners. Ignacio fights under the moniker "Nacho" to keep his identity secret, while Steven adopts the name "Esqueleto" (skeleton).

They lose their first match but still get paid, as all luchadores, win or lose, are entitled to a portion of the total revenue. As the spectators enjoyed their performance, they are encouraged to return. They continue to wrestle every week, with Ignacio using the money to improve the orphans' lives but becoming frustrated that they never win. Ignacio tries everything he can think of, including a folk remedy to acquire the powers of an eagle, but success still eludes them. He then attempts to seek advice from Ramses himself, but he is arrogantly rebuffed. Undeterred, the duo infiltrate a party that Ramses's manager holds for the best luchadores in Mexico. They discover that, in order to be considered a professional, one must be the last luchador standing in the ring at an upcoming free-for-all match.

Their cover is blown when Steven encounters an overweight woman named Candidia who falls madly in love with him causing him to flee in horror, and when Ignacio, who snuck into the party by impersonating a member of a Mariachi band, tries to improvise a song for Ramses but is rebuffed by Ramses once again and kicked out of the party alongside Steven. Outside, they encounter a duo of rival luchadores who slash the tires of Ignacio's moped, but the rival luchadores are defeated when Steven throws an elote like a throwing knife into one of their eyes.

The next morning, a disillusioned Ignacio expresses his resentment toward Ramses for treating him terribly and decides to quit wrestling, which starts a heated argument between him and Steven, who wants him to continue. Later, Ignacio's secret is revealed to the entire monastery when his robe catches fire during Mass, exposing his wrestling costume and forcing him to confess to everyone. He declares that he intends to fight at the battle royale for the right to take on Ramses for a cash prize that he hopes to use to buy a bus for the orphanage. He takes second place, losing to another luchador named Silencio. Banished from the monastery, Ignacio goes to live in exile. Steven finds Ignacio and informs him that Silencio has withdrawn on account of Steven injuring him, giving the runner-up Ignacio the right to fight Ramses instead. After praying with Steven, Ignacio overcomes difficulty and manages to do well in the match, winning the crowd's support, but Ramses, enraged, resorts to cheating by attacking Ignacio during the match's break and unmasking him, revealing his face and identity to the crowd, before pinning him to the ground. Ramses nearly wins the match until Ignacio sees Encarnación and the orphans enter the arena. Inspired by their support, Ignacio rallies himself and defeats Ramses.

Ignacio becomes a professional luchador and buys a bus for the orphanage with his prize money.

Cast

Production

Jack Black was a fan of the film Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and its director Jared Hess, and the two met in Los Angeles to discuss collaborating. Black was drawn to Hess' idea of a man of the Lord secretly living a life of violence via his love of lucha libre wrestling. He did, however, express concern over portraying a Mexican character, but Hess quelled his concerns by explaining Ignacio was supposed to be "a gringo" but born and raised in Mexico. While filming, Black sustained a gash on his eye after diving out of the wrestling ring during a stunt. He was rushed to the hospital but was able to continue filming. [7] The film was shot entirely in Oaxaca, Mexico. [8]

Music

Hess originally wanted musical artist Beck to be behind the soundtrack for the film. Beck, being a fan of Hess, accepted. However, Paramount Pictures did not think Beck's style fit the movie, so composer Danny Elfman was brought in to replace him. Elfman then wrote a full score and recorded it in May 2006. [9] However, only about 2/3 of Elfman's score ended up in the movie (with one of the songs, Ramses Suite, appearing in the released soundtrack). Due to how much of Elfman's music filled the film, Elfman's representatives asked that Elfman be the only person credited for the film's score. Hess caught wind of this and would not allow the studio to remove Beck from the credits. When finding that he would not have the only music credit, Elfman told Paramount to remove his name from the film. An agreement was eventually reached where both Beck and Elfman were credited for their respective parts of the score. [10] However, Elfman appears with sole credit in the official billing block on promotional material.

The theme song for the Japanese version is called "Go! Go! Carlito" by Jonny Jakobsen. [11]

Soundtrack

The track listing for the official soundtrack to Nacho Libre. [12] The soundtrack was released on October 24, 2006.

  1. "Hombre Religioso (Religious Man)" - Mister Loco
  2. "A Nice Pile-Drive to the Face (Dialogue)" - Jack Black
  3. "Move, Move, Move" - Alan Hawkshaw and Alan Parker
  4. "Papas" - Mister Loco
  5. "Piel Canela (Singing at the Party)" - Jack Black with Ismael Garcia Ruiz y Su Trio
  6. "Ramses Suite" - Danny Elfman
  7. "All the Orphans in the World (Dialogue)" - Jack Black and Héctor Jiménez
  8. "There is No Place in This World for Me" - Beck
  9. "I'm Serious (Dialogue)" - Jack Black
  10. "10,000 Pesos" - Beck
  11. "Irene" - Caetano Veloso
  12. "Pump a Jam (Ramses)" - Cholotronic
  13. "Black is Black" - Eddie Santiago
  14. "Half Forgotten Daydreams" - John Cameron
  15. "Encarnación" - Jack Black
  16. "Tender Beasts of the Spangled Night" - Beck
  17. "Saint Behind the Glass" - Los Lobos
  18. "Beneath the Clothes We Find the Man... (Dialogue)" - Jack Black
  19. "Forbidden Nectar" - Jack Black and Mucho Macho Acapulco

Some songs that were not included on the soundtrack, but were in the movie, are "Mucha Muchacha" by Esquivel, "Bubblegum" and "Mr. Loco" by Mister Loco, "Holy Man" by Beck, "Bat Macumba" by Os Mutantes, and “La Llorona Loca” by Little Joe and the Latinaires.

Release and reception

Nacho Libre was released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on June 16, 2006. The release date was originally set for May 2006, but was changed by Paramount to avoid competition from 20th Century Fox's X-Men: The Last Stand and one of Paramount's other films, Mission: Impossible III . It was then placed between the releases of Disney/Pixar's Cars (June 9) and Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' Superman Returns (June 28). It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 24, 2006. [13] The film was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 9, 2025. [14] [15]

During its opening weekend, Nacho Libre grossed $28,309,599, opening at #2 behind Cars ' second weekend. [4] The total domestic box office stands at $80,197,993 and a worldwide total of $99,255,460. [3]

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approving rating of 39% based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. [6] The website's critical consensus states: "At times hilarious, but other times offensive, director Jared Hess is unable to recapture the collective charisma of his Napoleon Dynamite characters, and instead, relies on a one-joke concept that runs out of steam. Sure to entertain the adolescents, however". [6] Metacritic gave the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 36 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [4] [17]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "It takes some doing to make a Jack Black comedy that doesn't work, but Nacho Libre does it". [18] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle thought the comedy was "hit and miss, with good bits interrupted by dead patches". [8] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times gave it a positive review and called it "endearingly ridiculous". [19]

Video game

A video game adaptation of the film was published by Majesco Entertainment and was released for the Nintendo DS on October 26, 2006. It is a cartoon-style wrestling game based upon the film. [20]

Possible sequel

In November 2006, Black, when asked, expressed his interest in a sequel: "I sure hope so, I love working with Jared. I think it's a good bet that we'll collaborate on something again. Mike had an idea that it would be Nacho goes to Japan, we'll see though." [21] However, Jared Hess (who directed the film) revealed in October 2009 that Paramount had never approached him about doing a sequel to Nacho Libre, though he said he would "love to work with Black again". [22] Hess and Black would later collaborate again on A Minecraft Movie .

Notes

  1. ↑ Beck was the initial composer, before being replaced by Elfman under orders from Paramount Pictures. Although most of the score used in the final film is from Elfman, director Jared Hess wanted Beck to receive credit for his tracks, which Elfman did not want. Ultimately, both are credited for their individual tracks in the end credits, but Elfman has sole credit in the official billing block used in promo material, despite only one of his songs appearing in the released soundtrack.

References

  1. ↑ "Nacho Libre (12A)". British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved December 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Nacho Libre (2006)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nacho Libre (2006)". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Friedman, Josh (June 19, 2006). "'Cars' Still Outpacing Competitors". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022. the B-plus given to "Nacho Libre,"
  5. ↑ Nusbaum, Eric (January 8, 2015). "Addict, Priest, Luchador: The Unbelievable Life of Fray Tormenta". Vice. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "Nacho Libre". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Jack Black Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters". GQ . December 19, 2019. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022– via YouTube.
  8. 1 2 LaSalle, Mick (June 16, 2006). "He sings, wrestles and has a fake Mexican accent. But Jack Black alone can't wrangle 'Nacho Libre'". San Francisco Chronicle . Archived from the original on May 21, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Danny Elfman scores Nacho Libre - ScoringSessions.com". Scoring Sessions. May 5, 2006. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  10. ↑ Sampson, Mike. "The truth behind Nacho's music - JoBlo.com". Joblo. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  11. ↑ "応援ソングに決定！『ナチョ・リブレ 覆面の神様』カリートWith ナチョ・リブレズ共演ライブイベント". CinemaCafe.net (in Japanese). September 3, 2006. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Amazon.com: Nacho Libre: Various Artists: Music". Amazon. Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Nacho Libre Movie - Starring Jack Black - Directed by Jared Leto - Official Site". Archived from the original on September 2, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  14. ↑ https://kinolorber.com/product/nacho-libre-4kuhd?srsltid=AfmBOop5WePierOg-fBHS5pnDDYmYgbR32s2wBiflOQ4pMi19wOIrqDV
  15. ↑ https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Nacho-Libre-4K-Blu-ray/388460/
  16. ↑ "Nacho Libre Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Nacho Libre" in the search box). CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  18. ↑ Roger Ebert (June 15, 2006). "Pepper Jack". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2022– via RogerEbert.com.
  19. ↑ Dargis (June 16, 2006). "A Tender Heart in Stretchy Pants and Ankle Boots in 'Nacho Libre' (Published 2006)" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Nacho Libre for DS - GameSpot". GameSpot . CBS. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Jack Black Talks 'Be Kind Rewind' and a Possible 'Nacho Libre 2'". ropeofsilicon.com. November 19, 2006. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  22. ↑ Ellwood, Gregory (October 30, 2009). "Jared Hess says he's never been asked about making 'Nacho Libre 2'". HitFix . Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
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