The Ringer (2005)

Don't Believe the Hype

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The Ringer is directed by Barry W. Blaustein and is the story of a man named Stevie who, when his friend Stavvi loses some fingers, is pressured by his gambling uncle to enter the Special Olympics as a mentally slow man in order to earn a lot of money. After wrongly entering the Special Olympics, Stevie poses as a man named Jeffie, and runs across multiple conflicts throughout his time at the event. That's pretty much the entire movie.I was actually expecting a complete pile of trash prior to watching The Ringer, but it wasn't completely awful. It had some good comedy throughout parts, and most of the acting was decent. Although The Ringer had some poor direction and a lazy script, it wasn't fully horrible. It had some good aspects.The best thing for The Ringer was the acting. Johnny Knoxville was pretty good, as both of his characters. He technically was acting as a guy who was acting as another guy, which is somewhat confusing, but he played both Stevie and Jeffie pretty well. Brian Cox, who played Stevie's uncle, was the highlight of this movie for me, due to his good acting. He played a gambling man who was in deep with the wrong people, so he bet on Stevie winning the Special Olympics, and did it well. All of the other acting was fine. Nobody else did great, but there wasn't any bad acting either.Some of the comedy was pulled off decently well. Although the film was making fun of mentally challenged people, it was supported by the actual Special Olympics, so I guess nobody can really defend them. A few lines that were written for laughs didn't receive any, and some of the jokes were pretty stale. However, a few lines did have me laughing, and laughing hard. Not all of the comedy is bad, just some of it.The worst thing I found in The Ringer was the direction. It wasn't completely awful, but it was horribly bland and boring. Most of the time, I felt as if I were watching a cheap Lifetime movie, and I shouldn't have felt that way. Most of the shots were very boring, and the direction didn't do anything good for the film at all.The script was also quite lazy. For example, a specific person's opinion on a subject will change from scene to scene, even though the subject may be a bit touchy. The script quickly brushed over these types of scenarios, and it felt very lazy and rushed. Most of the dialogue was somewhat cliché, and a lot of it was surprisingly flat. Not many lines had me asking questions, or even wanting to see more of the film. That's not a good thing.Overall, The Ringer wasn't awful, but it most definitely wasn't good. Although it did contain some good acting and some funny comedy, those couldn't save The Ringer from a bad script and poor direction.

Rating-6/10The Ringer is a comedy movie about a guy who wants to rig the Special Olympics to pay for his gardeners needed surgery, yes it is pretty crazy. Starring Johnny Knoxville, Katherine Heigl and a huge cast behind them, this movie is positively brimming with life, and the occasional laugh from them. You may think a movie about a man pretending to have learning difficulties is offensive and that casting people with similar conditions is too, but the true warm feel of this movie makes them not a thing to laugh at, they are good actors and can make some good jokes of their own. The story is pretty basic there's no doubt but it is still unique and with the kind of comedy that can at times be silly, mixed with genuine emotion too, this is one movie that can have you laughing on moments and stirring your heart the next. That said this film is far from perfect, some jokes aren't too great and with a film that as said is kind of silly, you get some hit and miss moments but all in all it is OK for me.Knoxville plays Steve(or Jeffy as he becomes known when pretending), and he acts it out well enough, not great all the way through but a good choice nevertheless. Katherine Heigl you may feel wastes her talent with a comedy like this but it's far from it, she is probably the most serious character but for me she is finest when being kind, it makes Heigl come off very well as an actor. The film uses a lot of people with learning disabilities, and they are great and as I said, they bring warmth to this and they are not to laugh at, you laugh with them.Director Barry Blaustein I felt does this very well, he works with the comedy duo the Farrelly Brothers who produced this and together they just seem to make this work, whether it's the story or the humour I'll never know. This movies writing isn't exactly spot on, Blaustein seems to direct the bad parts of the script well enough not to be a disaster but then again the script isn't all bad, just not great. Overall this movie really isn't for everybody, I expect mixed reviews and also mixed reactions as this could stir up an argument or two. In the end it is a sweet movie I felt and one that although I wouldn't be bursting to see again, is still worth another watch and for me that is all that counts. Oh and one more thing to mention, if you like the Farrelly brothers style of comedy seen in such films as "There's Something about Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber" among many others, then you should love this as this is just like the brand of comedy they represent.

Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) goes to his boss to ask for a promotion. His first job is to fire the janitor Stavi. He can't bring himself to do it and instead hires him to mow his lawn. Stavi accidentally cuts off his finger and Steve needs $28k to get it reattached. His sleazy uncle Gary (Brian Cox) comes up with the idea to fix the Special Olympics. Gary wants him to pose as mentally challenged to beat the pentathlon champ Jimmy Washington. He falls for event organizer Lynn Sheridan (Katherine Heigl).The start is pretty weak with a wishywashy lead character. I don't think Knoxville is particularly good at playing that character. Katherine Heigl is fairly wooden in this. Knoxville pretending to be slow is par for the course for most of his movies. None of these problems mean the end of the world. I actually like the real handicap actors in this. The biggest problem I have are all the actors acting as mentally handicap. It feels demeaning and fake. Unless they are trying to be Dustin Hoffman doing Rain Man, this was never going to work. They are better off simply getting real handicap actors to do the roles. Even if they can't quite say the lines, they could concentrate the acting to the few that seem to do good work. It's kind of insulting. It's uncomfortable. It's not funny. I just keep thinking that Knoxville is suppose to be stupid and funny for faking a mental handicap. Yet there are all these other actors who are actually faking mental handicap and the audience has to take them seriously.

Okay firstly I'd like to say this.The movie is not making fun of mentally disabled people at all,it is actually the opposite.It is showing In a lot of sences how we should'nt prejudge mentally disabled people.At the start it does seem that it's making fun of them,since the main character was trying to act like one but instead just acted like a complete idiot.but over a while he learns that there is a lot more to them.So that just cleans everything up in a nutshell.Now as for the movie,it is in a way a bit cliché.but then again nearly all sports movies are like that.But what I really was not expecting is that ending,I'm not gonna dare spoil it for you.As for the comedy,well it is preatty good at points,like the church scene,that was awesome and maybe the scene where they try to train Johny in weird ways.If thats not a homage to Jackass I don't know what is.It is also really nice at times too.Like how Johny bonded with the contestants over the lenght of the movie.So basically give this movie a go,you may be pleasantly surprised how truly under-rated it is