Nacho Libre is delightfully entertaining. It tells the tale of Ignacio, a friar living in Mexico who is the black sheep of his monastery and who longs for respect from his peers but is unable to earn it because he cannot execute the simplest tasks given to him by his superiors.

For example, a priest sends Ignacio (Jack Black) to see to a man with severe influenza. Ignacio thinks the man is dead and proceeds to place a small towel over his face, utter a prayer, and conduct a brief ceremony. Ignacio is startled moments later when the man removes the towel from his face and stares at him.

The last straw comes when Ignacio, the one entrusted to prepare meals for orphans and fellow friars and priests, is attacked on the street by an assailant who stole a bag of tortilla chips meant to be served to the needy children. Ignacio’s peers use this opportunity to finally tell him they are disgusted with his culinary skills. His meals have made them physically ill for months.

Ignacio criticizes his critics for not providing a bigger allowance to obtain proper ingredients. He vows to find a way to fix the situation by himself. However, Ignacio does not know how to do this until a second chance encounter with Esqueleto (Hector Jimenez), his earlier attacker, reveals the man eating the remnants of the tortilla chips that spilled onto the road.

This time it is Ignacio who pounces on Esqueleto. Igancio knows that Mexican wrestlers earn a minimum of 200 pesos each time they fight and win as part of a team. This is where Esqueleto comes in, because Ignacio thinks he can be his partner for these wrestling events.

The monastery views wrestling as immoral and the orphans know better than to be caught watching it or acting out moves. To ensure his cover never gets blown, Ignacio dons a blue body suit, tights, and mask to become “Nacho Libre” as he attempts to pummel his opposition and win the respect of the orphans, his peers and Sister Encarnación (Ana de la Reguera), a beautiful woman he is infatuated with despite their respective vows of celibacy.

I particularly enjoyed the scene where Ignacio dresses in what he tells Sister Encarnación is his “recreational outfit” -- stretch pants minus his hood and robe. He wants to make an impression on the Sister by defeating men who have been paid by Esqueleto to attack him but are instructed to allow him to win. However, it turns out Esqueleto and his hired thugs run a little late, so Ignacio picks a fight with the wrong men.

Director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) has managed to get the usually hyper Black to tone down his performance and deliver one which is solid, warm, engaging, charismatic, and comedic here. That's probably why I rooted for Ignacio throughout this entire film.

(Released by Paramount and rated “PG” for some rough action and crude humor including dialogue.)