NACHO LIBRE — ** 1/2 — Jack Black, Hector Jimenez, Ana de la Reguera; rated PG (violence, vulgarity).

"Nacho Libre" comes with a little extra cheese on top. What makes that surprising is that the film's premise is pretty cheesy to begin with.

This comedy combines the overly familiar, feel-good story of saving the orphans with comical tributes to Mexican wrestling, known in Mexico as Lucha Libre.

The resulting film is pretty silly, lightweight fare that may leave at least a few members of the audience with smiles on their faces. But your appreciation of this rather peculiar cinematic adventure may depend largely on your tolerance for comic actor Jack Black.

He stars as Ignacio, or "Nacho," the cook at a Mexican monastery/orphanage. Ignacio is sick of cooking and taking other demeaning jobs doled out by the other priests, and he's looking for ways to impress the orphanage's pretty new teacher, Sister Encarnacion (Mexican television actress Ana de la Reguera).

So he decides to become a masked wrestler, with his wiry but resilient new friend Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez) as his tag-team partner. Unfortunately, they're not very good, and they lose all their matches. But they are making money — until a pompous wrestling champion named Ramses (Cesar Gonzalez) riles Ignacio and has him looking for revenge in the ring.

As expected, "Nacho Libre" is every bit as silly as director Jared Hess's debut feature, the 2004 surprise smash hit "Napoleon Dynamite." However, it is a little distressing to see him play up the more low-brow elements here, including that tired stand-by, flatulence humor.

Still, this is an improvement over its predecessor in terms of composition and story coherence. (Hess co-wrote this film's script with his wife, Jerusha, as well as "School of Rock" screenwriter Mike White.)

And the manic-as-usual Black does manage to stay in character . . . save for maybe a scene featuring a song that will please fans of his "band" Tenacious D.

In support, Jimenez does get a few guilty laughs as his sidekick. But Penelope Cruz look-alike de la Reguera doesn't get much to do. Neither does Peter Stormare, who's consigned to a pointless cameo.

"Nacho Libre" is rated PG for a few scenes of comic violence (including wrestling violence, as well as slapstick-style pratfalls) and crude humor about bodily functions (both sight gags and references). Running time: 91 minutes.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com