Customer Reviews

The Ringer

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Having seen most of Johnny Knoxville's film oeuvre, I have not been particularly impressed. I've admired some elements of the smaller films (Daltry Calhoun, Grand Theft Parsons) that he's done to extend his acting cred, but have found most of his "blockbuster" work (Dukes, Walking Tall) to be passable, at best, and excruciating, at worst. I'll admit, I was not first in line to see "The Ringer." The concept of Knoxville going undercover as a participant in the Special Olympics seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. In this world of political correctness, even the hint of impropriety threatens to derail questionable projects (much to my chagrin, most of the time), so I just didn't see how it was possible that this story was going to be made. But made it was, and with the full cooperation of the Special Olympics!

With minimal expectations, I actually found "The Ringer" to be very funny and filled with heart. Without a question, I feel this is Johnny Knoxville's best screen performance to date. He's wickedly funny, surprisingly sympathetic, and a credible romantic lead all rolled into one. In a scheme that is entered into with good intentions, Knoxville infiltrates the Special Olympics with the help of his uncle (a hysterically dark turn from Brian Cox). There, he finds it much more challenging than he had anticipated--both physically in the sporting events and mentally as it's difficult to maintain his cover. Of course, it doesn't help matters that he falls for a lovely volunteer (natch) played by "Grey's Anatomy"'s Katherine Heigl.

Of course, much of the humor is physical and much might be considered offensive in certain camps. I, for one, found it refreshing that the other participants of the Olympics were not portrayed as "saints" but as real people. The front-runner, for example, is an outright villain. And when Knoxville is set up on a blind date with a disabled girl, she is dismissive and irritable and downright mean. It's a progressive and unusual view, as most movies on this subject show exclusively favorable characterizations. Knoxville's plot against Heigl's boyfriend is hysterical, his camaraderie in the group is fresh and believable, and his romantic inclinations are well-played.

With moments of what seem like mean-spirited humor, this is actually a sweet and respectful picture. I think most people expected a bit more of the gross-out humor found in early Farrelly Brother's pictures. This is a slightly more conventional picture that the inspired "There's Something About Mary"--but I was shocked and delighted by how much I actually liked "The Ringer." KGHarris, 12/06.

I didn't expect to like this movie, since I have not been a Johnny Knoxville fan. I was really surprised by Knoxville's impressive portrayal of a guy doing the (really, really) wrong thing for a mostly good cause. The movie doesn't poke fun of the mentally-challenged or physically challenged. With an interesting mix of actually disabled people and non-disabled actors, the movie makes fun of "normal" people more than those who are different. There are several hilarious one-liners, plenty of sight gags, and some serious heart. There is also enough bad language that I couldn't call this a "family" film, but it would be fine for older children.

I didn't get to watch the extras on the DVD, but I really enjoyed it, including the spoof of modern "star" atheletes. BTW - the other reviewer who kept referring to the star athelete as Lenny, really, really must not have been paying attention, since the character's name is "Jimmy" and his name is *everywhere*, on his entourage's jackets, on his limo .. . you get the idea.

This movie was a lot of fun, much more than I expected, and I recommend renting it at least.

Pushover nice guy/dweeb Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) has to come up with $28,000 to cover the cost of his lawnmower's medical bills. His uncle, who is in serious gambling debt, hits upon the very questionable idea of passing Steve off as retarted, thus qualifying him to compete in the Special Olympics. The disabled athletes, however, pretty quickly figure out that Steve is a poser, but they assist him anyway because of their dislike of arrogant perennial gold medal winner Jimmy Washington (Leonard Flowers). At the same time, Steve tries to win over lovely Special Olympics volunteer Lynn Sheridan (Katherine Heigl), while hilariously undermining her relationship with smarmy fiance David (Zen Gesner).

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this film. I haven't really dug Johnny Knoxville in the past (though I liked him in Walking Tall), and I was uncertain as to how he would play this character. Thoughts of Billy Bob Thornton's Willie from Bad Santa ran rampant in my brain. However, The Ringer turns out to be a funny, sweet-natured film, which laughs with the mentally disabled, rather than at them. Knoxville's Steve Barker is a surprisingly sympathetic character: an inherently decent dude trying to do the right thing, but is trapped into a corner, and ends up doing the wrong thing. While I don't know if I can condone his actions, I do definitely feel for him. Knoxville reveals a vulnerable side that is a mini-revelation. Steve's Special Olympics moniker "Jeffy Dahmer" still cracks me up. Katherine Heigl (television's Roswell) is perfectly winsome and very hot as Lynn. The rest of the film cast is also uniformly very good, and is peppered with actual mentally disabled performers. Edward Barbanell ("Billy") and John Taylor ("Rudy") are both actors with Down Syndrome. Also, all the extra athletes are genuine Special Olympics athletes.

Produced by the wacky Farrelly brothers, The Ringer is irreverent, hilarious, touching and, yes, even a tad inspirational. But was it maybe too PC? Yeah, I would have to say so. The Farrellys obviously wanted to toe the line with this very chancy topic (the Special Olympics gave their blessings to this film). But, as someone had mentioned, one wonders what kinds of unpolitically-correct stuff was left discarded on the editing floor. Still, this is a very funny, feel-good movie, with a (who woulda thunk it?) very likable lead. Guess I'm gonna have to start watching more Johnny Knoxville.

Special Features include: pretty cool film commentary by director Barry W. Blaustein, producer Peter Farrelly, and actors Johnny Knoxville, Edward Barbanell and John Taylor; a Special Olympics featurette; deleted scenes; "Let the Games Begin - A Look at The Ringer" docu-segment; and a message from Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver.

My Cousin and I went and seen this last night. I loved the movie, some parts better then others. If you want to see a good comedy then this is the one. I know there sort of making fun of special needs people. I've got Cebreal Pasey, I saw nothing wrong with this movie. "When the F*ck Did we get Ice Cream...Did you get Ice Cream!?" lol, favorite line of the movie.

"The Ringer" stars Johnny Knoxville (The Dukes of Hazzard) and is written by Ricky Blitt (who is one of the head writers of Family Guy). The movie takes a subject that could've been controversial and cruel and instead does it complete justice and gives us quite a few things to laugh about.

Knoxville plays Steve Barker. Steve is a nice guy and when he's moved up in his office building, his first job is to fire the janitor Stavi (Luis Avalos). Problem is, Steve can't do it and instead offers Stavi $400 a month to mow his lawn. When Stavi accidentally cuts off his fingers in a lawnmower accident, Steve needs to get $28,000 dollars to pay for the surgery to sew the fingers back on. Steve turns to his Uncle Gary (Brian Cox) for help and Gary, who's in some money trouble himself, suggests they rig the Special Olympics. Steve is completely against it, but eventually caves and joins. Steve, now calling himself Jeffy Dahmor with an "O" joins the Special Olympics but ends up falling for one of the counselors named Lynn (Katherine Heigl). Things get worse when his fellow competitors realize that Jeffy is a scam, but once he convinces them of what his goal is...They go along with it.

Writer Ricky Blitt had a lot of directions he could've gone with this movie, opting for cheap mean jokes on the mentally challenged people. But, amazingly, this movie does not exploit them at all. None of the jokes are mean or prejudice, but the movie is hilariously funny. Besides the "Jackass" movies, this is probably the funniest work Knoxville has done. Both the physical humor and otherwise is absolutely hilarious (Barker, is that you?). The love angle between Steve and Lynn is a bit predictable but needed to move the movie along. While, this movie didn't recieve a whole lot of good reviews it's really funny and really entertaining and I'd suggest you don'tt pass up seeing it.

GRADE: A

Wow I thought this movie was hilarious. People tell me I'm so weird for falling off of my chair and laughing at this movie, but I thought it was great. Johnny Knoxville is hilarious in this movie, and whoever the actor was who did Billy, oh man he was great! I love the part of the movie where they're all eating lunch and Billy sees the lunch lady and he asks her if she has a new hairnet and he says "Oh my Lanta!" I nearly died. But my favorite part of this movie was deffinately the part where they snuck out and went to the movies to see Dirty Dancing. And when they come back and see Lynn, her boyfriend says "Oh, I took them out for ice cream." And then Winston turns around and says "When the f*** did we get ice cream?!" I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING! Well my point is that I love this movie, and you will too when you see it for the first time. Oh and this movie also had a very good ending. Yeah so I think you should go order this movie on On Demand. It's only $4. And believe me it's worth your $4. So go watch it.

This film had its funny moments, I think my favorite was when one mentally challenged person yelled out something about wondering when he had ice cream that night.......other than that..not really exciting. Johnny Knoxville was horrible at playing a mentally challenged person and was really unbelievable, but maybe this is what they were going for. Then there was the whole love interest aspect of the movie, which was thrown in there to be like every other movie I guess....with a happy ending, of course. heaven forbid the guy and girl don't actually get together. The movie overall was totally PC so don't expect anything as adventurous as South Park could dish out. :)~

At first, I was a bit skeptical about seeing this movie. I thought to myself, "Oh, God, the Farrelly brothers? Doing a movie about the Special Olympics? These are the guys that did 'Something About Mary'!" I thought it would be crass and crude, but I was pleasantly surprised! This was a truly good movie that I felt was very heartwarming and sincere.

Johnny Knoxville does an excellent job. However, I felt that Edward Barbanell, who plays Knoxville's roommate, truly stole the show and was the best actor on the screen!

This movie will not win any awards anytime soon, but so what! I left the theater feeling really good and I enjoyed myself. I highly recommend it.

"The Ringer" is the kind of movie where, upon a quick glance, most people would assume is made strictly to shock and offend. Considering the infamous Farrelly Brothers ("There's Something About Mary," "Me, Myself & Irene") stand by as producers, one could imagine the many cheap-shots this movie would take. Surprisingly, though, it doesn't. And despite the restrictions the movie gives itself, it's quite funny at times. And despite a somewhat predictable plot, it's actually a bit heartwarming and sentimental.

Apparently, I'm in the minority of people who actually enjoyed this movie. Then again, I tried not to keep my expectations up too high. For starters, this isn't exactly a Farrelly Brothers movie, so don't go in expecting that type of humor. Sure, it shows up at times, but "The Ringer" is more conventional than those movies. Johnny Knoxville (from "Jackass") is perfect as Steve, a reluctant participant in the Special Olympics, coerced by his uncle Gary, played by Brian Cox ("Manhunter," "Red Eye"). Steve is forced into the games in part to pay off his uncle's bookies, but also to be able to afford surgery to replace the three severed fingers of the man he hired to mow his lawn. The plot does get a bit ridiculous at points, and you can see Steve's happy-ending with Lynn (Katherine Heigl of "Bride Of Chucky"), a volunteer at the Olympics, coming miles away. But despite all that, the movie does a good job carrying a message without being condescending or losing it's sense of humor.

If you look at the cover of the DVD or read any reviews and feel the urge to be instantly offended, don't. "The Ringer" is quite well-done, and actually features many mentally-disabled actors in prominent roles. And if that's not enough for you, it's also flat-out funny. It's simply a good comedy with a decent story and an interesting and original angle. Just don't take it too seriously.

"The Ringer" is a ridiculous comedy with a goofy plot and political incorrectness throughout. This movie is daring in that it touches on sensitive ground where many directors and performers would not dare to tread. Making a comedy about most subjects would be ok, but this film pokes fun (sort of) at the Special Olympics with Johnny Knoxville pretending to be mentally challenged and committing the ultimate act of shamefulness by joining the Special Olympics and competing for medals against other, truly disabled athletes.

This movie has all the warning signs of a tasteless, shameless, and morally offensive film and when I first watched it, I was expecting the worst. I admit, however, that the film's venture into politically incorrect comedy territory was one of its appeals. Making a movie that could possibly poke fun at the Special Olympics and what it stands for was too outrageous to be true and it convinced me to rent the DVD and find out for myself if it really was a film made with incredible bad taste.

What I discovered is The Ringer is not all that offensive after all and in many ways it actually shines a positive light on the Special Olympics and its athletes. Yes, there are the many scenes where Knoxville is walking around with his head tilted, talking and acting like he has a serious disability and these scenes could offend some viewers. But the interesting twist on the whole movie is that Knoxville's "Jeffy" character is actually the one person who seems the stupidest and his co- athletes are the ones who seem the brightest. In fact, there is the one scene in the movie where the other athletes confront Knoxville's character because they know he is a fraud. They can see right through his act. "Jeffy" is shocked because he assumes that Special Olympics people will be easy to fool but not only is this untrue, they are also very good in competitive sports, causing Knoxville's character to rethink his strategy. What he and his uncle thought would be a cake walk turns out to be a tough competition.

The attraction between Knoxville and his co- star is the one subplot to the film and while cute, it isn't essential to the overall picture. Actress Katherine Heigl plays a Special Olympics volunteer who is engaged to actor Zen Gesner. Knoxville's character takes an instant liking to her and he plays on her sympathies to win her affections. After a while, she discovers that "Jeffy" isn't the disabled person she thought and she reacts with rage. It is up to Knoxville to win her back, if it can even be done at all. This subplot is ok, but the film could have concentrated entirely on the Special Olympics without any loss in comedic value.

Performances in this film are generally ok, with Brian Cox as the standout in the bunch. Johnny Knoxville passes in this role, even though his "Jeffy" personification is rather weak. Of course, he is doing an acting role within an acting role so I don't know if we can really blame this on lack of talent. Probably the best performers of all, however, are Edward Barbanell, Nicole Bradley, John Taylor, and others who are actual Special Olympics athletes. They each play a role as a specific character, but since they are actual athletes in the Special Olympics, they add a jolt of reality to the film and their performances are commendable.

DVD extras for "The Ringer" include deleted scenes, a message from Special Olympics chairman Tim Shriver, special commentary by the director, writer, and some of the performers, and a special feature on the Special Olympics itself. This film actually received a thumbs- up from the Special Olympics- they gave their approval to go ahead with the movie. Even though it is a comedy and it has what seems like a distasteful premise, the movie treats the Olympians with respect.

Overall, The Ringer is a silly, slapstick comedy that offers a few funny lines and some ok comedy for the most part while also bringing to the forefront an important organization that deserves some much deserved attention. The movie gets a little carried away at times with Knoxville's character and his shameful attempt to rig the Special Olympics. But the film plays it safe, never crossing to line into outright offensiveness. It makes a good film for those times when you're in a light- hearted mood and want a movie that is mildly amusing and a little controversial without going too far on either count.