For all you helmet heads who just can’t wait for football season, “Invincible” is just the ticket to satiate your pigskin palate until the real kickoff a few weeks from now. For everyone else, it’s another tired and predictable sports movie to yawn through.

The true story is based on the career of Vincent Papale, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles in mid-1970s. The lone thing that makes this different from a normal sports movie is that it’s not about a dream come true: although he’s a lifelong Eagles fan, there’s no indication in the movie that Papale actually wanted to play pro football.

And so when Coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) holds open tryouts in the summer of 1976, Papale (Mark Wahlberg), who only played two years of high school football, goes with great goading from his friends and little hope of actually making the team. But it’s not like he has anything better to do: his wife has just left him and he’s unemployed thanks to the despair of the Philadelphia economy.

It’s at this point that you can break out your checklist of sports movie clichés and start marking them off one by one. Inexperienced underdog in over his head with bigger, stronger athletes – check. Scenes of training camp brutality and the veterans’ immediate dislike him – absolutely. A naysayer amongst the hero’s friends and loved ones – of course. Troubled relationship with a parental figure mended – Dad always did love him. Token love interest – you betcha, in the form of his future wife Janet (Elizabeth Banks). Failure and a long struggle for success capped by triumph? Brad Gann’s script wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s even an attempt at the same type of uplifting music that these movies always feature, but Mark Isham’s score is barely noticeable.

The problem isn’t that these formulaic devices are used, but that they’re used in such a boring and conventional way -- the movie could have been much better if director Ericson Core had a fresh perspective for the story. The lone saving grace is that the action is easy to follow, which is a step up from the headache-inducing chaos of “Any Given Sunday” and other football movies.

As the final credits roll we see game footage of the real Papale, and it’s striking how his tall and lanky frame is so different from Wahlberg’s short and compact build. Although Wahlberg’s performance is fine, it’s obvious that the movie is going for a “Rudy”-like feel, but falls terribly short (pun intended). Whereas “Rudy” had heart, earnestness and tradition, “Invincible” has heart, skepticism and fans who threw snowballs at Santa Claus (true story: In December 1968, Eagles fans were so disheartened by the team’s poor season that they threw snowballs at Santa Claus during halftime in a game against the Minnesota Vikings).

Does “Invincible” have a nice, inspirational story? Yes, which is why even the two very predictable goose bump inducing moments will score with football fans. Too bad there’s nothing for anyone else to watch.

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