The Ringer

The Ringer (2005)

HBO Broadcast, Seattle, WA

December 23, 2007

**1/2 / ****

by Scott Muoio

Just when you thought getting kicked in the balls by a gaggle of children and being shot into a lake riding a make-shift rocket were the greatest heights of Johnny Knoxville’s career, producers The Farrelly Brothers give you their latest goofy offensive flick: The Ringer. In The Ringer, Knoxville attempts the biggest stretch in his short career. Playing an unlucky dude who fakes being mentally retarded in order to win The Special Olympics and save the severed fingers of a recently laid off janitor, this isn’t exactly high brow stuff, but at least Knoxville’s nuts are safe this time out from the flying feet of L.A. school children.

The Ringer isn’t nearly as horrible, offensive, and stupid as it could have been and though not good by any measure, it is good intentioned, warm-hearted, and provides more yucks than a lot of the high grossing films that pass for comedies these days. Featuring a handful of legitimately mentally challenged disabled people (who are wonderful and very funny in their roles) acting alongside a slew of professionals playing handicapped (these actors are likewise very good and sometimes even hilarious), the film teeters the line of bad taste while effectively displaying genuine affection for the disabled. The disabled aren’t second class citizens in any way, purports the film, but they are different, special, and a whole lot of fun. In The Ringer, we laugh with the disabled rather than at them, and although true mentally challenged people probably won’t get the humour in the film that doesn’t mean it isn’t well intentioned and pulled off in a pretty decent manner. Ricky Blitt’s script, which is quite basic in plot from start to finish (a guy fakes handicap to compete in The Special Olympics and that’s about it), is especially adept at bringing individual personalities to all the characters even if director Barry Blaustein doesn’t quite make the most of it or his very game cast. The sunniest part of the film is Katharine Heigle as the good natured and good-looking Special Olympics volunteer coordinator. She is perfect in her role as the film’s conscience and serves as a steadying anchor to the story assuring a good moral message eventually emerges amongst the slapstick.

As for Johnny Knoxville, well, he’s Johnny Knoxville and even when playing a guy pretending to be mentally challenged he is still an extremely likable and fun to watch dude. Only Brian Cox, as Knoxville’s screen uncle, gets too caught up in his overacting, scenery chewing antics to effectively fit in with the others, who effectively tone it down a notch or two. With a director willing to throw a little more power behind his punches and work things a bit more straight with his cast, perhaps The Ringer could have been a really funny movie. As is, the film still bags more laughs than you’d probably expect, especially challenging with such potentially explosive material.

For a movie revolving around a topic you rarely see get the cinematic treatment, especially as a comedy, you could do much, much worse than The Ringer. You’ll laugh and you probably won’t even be offended! How’s that for a sort of endorsement? Check out The Ringer if it crosses your path, but definitely don’t pull a muscle trying to track it down.