Napoleon Dynamite was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Nacho Libre was not.
Several hours after leaving the theater, I still am trying to figure out whether this was a horrible movie made tolerable by Jack Black, or a potentially funny movie ruined by excessive focus on its star. But one thing is clear to me: Jack Black is not one of those rare people (like John Belushi) who makes me laugh just to look at him. This movie had too many shots where the audience was supposed to laugh just because Jack Black's face was filling the screen. Most of the time, we didn't.
Audience reaction was mixed. My 12-year-old daughter, not one to mince words, just told me, "Nacho Libre stunk." (She is a big Napoleon Dynamite fan, by the way.) On the other hand, three thirtysomething guys sat behind us, and one of them commented afterwards, "That was one of the best movies ever!" But listening to their comments during the movie, it was pretty clear that there was a high school thing going on there. I am fairly certain that he would change his mind at any hint of dissent from his buddies.
One of my 10-year-old sons summed up my feelings pretty well: "It was funny in parts, but I didn't bust a gut laughing."
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