Fans in Philadelphia are notoriously ruthless to anyone not in a Philly uniform.

They threw snowballs at Santa Claus in 1968 and booed him off the field. They cheered when Michael Irvin was temporarily paralyzed. They even booed Destiny’s Child during a half-time performance. Who can boo Beyonce?

These are tough people to please, which makes what Vince Papale accomplished all the more incredible. Too bad his movie couldn’t live up to his real story.

“Invincible” tells of Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg), a Philly native who had the ultra cool opportunity to try out for and play with his favorite NFL team — the Eagles — and eventually became a Philadelphia fan favorite.

The real Papale was a terrific athlete in high school; he lettered in football, basketball and track. He went to St. Joseph College on a track scholarship because the school didn’t have a football team. After graduation he worked as a bartender and substitute teacher before playing two years of pro football with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League. The film doesn’t mention any of this.

He eventually was asked to try out for the Eagles in 1976 at age 30. The new coach, Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) liked what he saw and kept him around. He became one of the oldest rookies in NFL history, special teams captain and in 1978, was voted “Man of the Year” by the Eagles. If there was ever an inspirational sports story that Disney could turn into a film, this was it.

But following the recent trend of sports-related Disney movies, the film is loaded with cliche after cliche, as well as cookie-cutter characters, poor casting and tired sports movie direction and editing (i.e. slow motion mini camp drills).

It made me queasy.

Disappointing was Kinnear’s portrayal of Vermeil. The real Vermeil had a reputation as one of the most intense and emotional head coaches in the NFL. Kinnear plays him as a calm, soft-spoken, deliberate coach who communicates with nods and gestures.

I was pleased with Wahlberg, however. Even though he’s about six inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter than Papale, he still looked like professional athlete. I wouldn’t be surprised if he played a little football in high school. Plus, the guy’s ripped. Reportedly Wahlberg bulked up so he could take real hits.

On top of that, his portrayal seemed genuine. Wahlberg plays him as a guy who has failed so often it’s worn him down. He expects and accepts failure.

I never thought much of Wahlberg prior to this, but he won me over. The film did not.