Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has made his big move -- from tugging at hamstrings to heartstrings -- in a new Disney family comedy called "The Game Plan."

The title has the whiff of football, as does the film, in a perfunctory kind of way. The plot concerns fatherhood, which is foreign territory for an "ultimate action hero" like the Rock. But whether father knows best or worst, he needs a profession, so why not let Johnson's be that of your average American superstar NFL quarterback?

He plays legendary Joe Kingman ("The King") of the Boston Rebels. Joe has led them to the playoffs -- and the bachelor parties -- of every team's dream. But suddenly ...

---

'The Game Plan'

• Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Madison Pettis, Kyra Sedgwick.
• Director: Andy Fickman.
• Rating: PG for some mild thematic elements.
• Web site: "The Game Plan"

---

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Peyton (Madison Pettis), the 8-year-old daughter he never knew he had. After all this time, her mom has decided to deposit her with him, she says. So now, at the key moment of his career, he must juggle parties and practices with paternity issues -- from bedtime stories to ballet classes -- that come with raising a little girl.

The resulting misadventures feature Joe's malevolent agent (Kyra Sedgwick) and his benign football pals (Marv Albert, Boomer Esiason, Jim Gray, Stuart O. Scott, Steven Levy as "themselves"). They're OK, but who cares about them?

We care, oddly enough, about the Rock ("Gridiron Gang," "Scorpion King"), who in real life wanted to play football before a college injury led him to pro wrestling. This King in "Game Plan" does a touching rendition of that other King's song, "Are You Lonesome Tonight" -- even as he's left to cuddle up, lonely, with his bulldog Spike.

Less endearing is little Madison Pettis. She is beyond cloying to annoying, with a voice like the one you hear when you pull some babydoll's string. But she provides the excuse to put sexy dancer-love interest Roselyn Sanchez into the equation, culminating in a ballet performance that constitutes the film's most exhilarating moment.

I'm no sucker for sentiment -- unless it comes in such fine, artsy form.

Producers Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, makers of uplifting sports dramas like "The Rookie" and "Invincible," say they got "a wild idea" with this one -- evidently unaware that pairing up a single alpha male with a child is no blindingly original concept. But at least they didn't turn the Rock into a Rocky-type underdog.

For that, and for its heart being in the right good-natured place, this "Game Plan" makes for a sweet enough outing with the kids.