As a former pudgy kid overly excited by professional wrestling and obsessed with sketching, something about the film &#8220Nacho LibreC rang true and hit home for me.

That being said, I loved this film about a half-Scandinavian/half-Mexican monk who cares for orphans, is in love with a beautiful nun and has a passion for the pile-driver. I found it hilarious.

Of course, the film is complete whimsy from start to finish. There/s no real tension or drama to be found. No realistic characters to identify.

Nacho Libre is more cartoon than a comedic film with even a hint of seriousness. But &#8220NachoC and &#8220Napoleon DynamiteC director Jared Hess isn/t a serious filmmaker.

Even so, his films do touch a certain chord of the psyche for those still in touch with their inner child. I think that/s why you get the &#8220I hate Napoleon DynamiteC camp and the &#8220I love Napoleon DynamiteC camp.

This Jack Black vehicle has the Tenacious D singer donning the mask and tights of a Luchadore 7 the masked Mexican professional wrestler of the sport of &#8220Lucha libreC or freestyle fighting. In the film, Black plays brother Ignacio, who, as a young orphan, expresses a sacrilegious obsession for Lucha libre and is placed in the kitchen, becoming the cook for a monastery in Oaxaca.

After an amusing opening sequence, we find the now adult Ignacio filling the monastery orphan/s bowls with a ghastly gruel garnished with tortilla chips. We also meet the lovely Sister Encarnacion, who joins the monastery and easily becomes the object of Nacho/s affection.

To make money to please the children with trips to parks and more appetizing food, Nacho becomes a Luchadore with the nom de guerre of Nacho Libre. But as Sister Encarnacion, played by the stunning Ana de la Reguera, advises Ignacio, &#8220Wrestling is sinful.C So the wrestling is a secret throughout the film, until the completely predictable third act.

But the audience I saw &#8220NachoC with really dug the film as much as I did.

I think that love for the film stemmed from a kind of feeling of being transported to the fourth grade and all the things you found hilarious and frustrating at that age. That/s what I loved about &#8220Napoleon Dynamite,C Hess/ 2004 sleeper hit. His films are populated by characters who are whiny and juvenile but remind you of the childhood pals or weirdos that cracked you up as a kid.

&#8220NachoC also reminded me of the classic Warner Brother/s animated shorts directed by the great Chuck Jones. There/s a certain Jones-like quality to the visuals and slapstick that I really loved.

When you watch a Jones cartoon, like his Wile E. Coyote vs. Roadrunner shorts, there/s always the underlining universality of the hapless coyote/s frustration. We get the same with Jack Black, as he not only wrestles with the frustration of a vow of celibacy and his interest in sister Encarnacion, but how his girth and small stature get in the way of winning matches.

And then there/s this silly cat-like character played by Héctor Jiménez 7 a street thief whom Nacho befriends and who becomes his Luchadore partner &#8220EsquelitoC in the ring. Nothing says comedy like the classic skinny/fat pairing, and there/s great chemistry between the pair.

Hess shares somewhat of a similar style to fellow cinematic autier Wes Anderson (&#8220Rushmore,C &#8220The Life AquaticC) in the elementary school-like innocence in the tone of their work. But whereas Anderson/s films are somewhat more cerebral in dialogue and filled with an underlying despair, Hess/ pictures are more adolescent in spirit and tone 7 but in a good way.

I loved the look of the film. It reminded me of the vintage Euro or Latin American cinema you happen upon on some God forsaken cable channel late at night. And the quirky innocence of the characters, cheesy /60s and /70s production design, and graininess to the cinematography reminded me of the poorly-dubbed vintage Pippi Longstocking films I loved as a kid.

Black, with whom I once chatted before he was a headliner star, about guitars and the confidence wielding one can bring, is now a veritable A-lister with turns in film as a maniacal director (&#8220King KongC), a maniacal music teacher (&#8220School of RockC), and a maniacal rock star (the singing half of the brilliant comedic rock duo Tenacious D.) Here he shines as Nacho and brings the same kind of devilish exuberance and bravado as he does onstage as &#8220JBC of Tenacious D.

There/s a little musical scene in &#8220NachoC with Black expressing his love for Encarnacion through song, and by way of his racuous Tenacious D singing style, that just nailed the fun of this movie for me.

And I applaud the use of Los Lobos/ &#8220Saint Behind the Glass,C one of my favorite songs of all time, to end the film.

Three stars out of four.

Neil Nisperos can be reached at 737-1059 or nnisperos@

lompocrecord.com.

June 21, 2006