Kevin Costner stars in 'McFarland USA'

"MCFARLAND USA" invokes every underdog sports movie cliche in the book, and dammit if I didn't fall for every one.

Cross-country "Hoosiers," anyone?

"Rocky" for runners?

Throw in Kevin Costner, sprinkling his Sports Miracle, field-of-dreams pixie dust over the enterprise as a high school coach named Jim White, who takes a last-chance job as assistant football coach at a public school for Latino immigrant families in California farm country.

White's a hardhead, and he quickly loses that job but makes a friend of the school principal (Valente Rodriguez, in a small but important role), who accepts White's proposal to start a cross-country team.

White sees right away that the school is too small and too scrawny to compete in football, especially against districts that are better funded, which is all of them.

But he also sees Mexican-American kids running to and from the fields every day - running very fast, over very great distances. And he knows that essentially all he needs to start a cross-country running team are a couple of dozen pairs of shoes.

Can this White Shadow (the kids call him "Blanco") convince these wary Latino students that running is a good use of their time? More importantly, can he convince their parents?

You know the answers, especially if you Google it; this is a true story.

Moreover, you know how super-motivated, working-class McFarland will do against the smug, privileged districts (like Palo Alto).

None of that detracts from the enjoyment of seeing it happen.

Costner is sturdy in what turns out to be the movie's central role, and while this is sure to raise objections - a story of minority achievement told through the eyes of a white character - there are also the commercial considerations at work.

The movie could have been financed without a star like Costner, and the truth is, he's awfully good - finally taking that job as coach he was headed for at the end of "Bull Durham," the one you knew he'd be good at.

It would have helped the film if one or more of the actors playing the student runners had "popped" a little more - a bit of a surprise, as the movie is helmed by "Whale Rider" director Niki Caro.

But there are other actors who are solid in support - Rodriguez as the principal, Diana Maria Riva as the mother of one of the boys, and Maria Bello as the coach's wife, who helps the family integrate with the largely Spanish-speaking community.