The Ringer
Director: Barry W Blaustein
Actors: Johnny Knoxville
Release Date: Monday 30th November -0001
To avoid firing the toilet attendant at work, Steve (Knoxville) hires him to mow the lawn at his apartment complex, but when a lawnmower accident cuts off three of his fingers and renders an operation necessary it is left to Steve to foot the bill. Before he can come up with a plan to pay for the surgery, his gambling uncle Gary (Cox) convinces Steve to pose as a mentally challenged person so he can rig the Special Olympics. Steve goes along with the plan but when he is sussed out by his fellow participants, the plan changes, as they want him to beat the stuck up Jimmy Washington who wins every year. When Steve finds himself falling for sexy Olympic assistant Lynn (Heigl), he begins to question his own motives.
Receiving the backing of the Special Olympics helps relieve the guilty laughter you might experience with lines like 'Hello, my name is Jeffy and I can count to potato'. With the notorious Farrelly brothers producing, this could have been a terrible film of the lowest of low humour and plunge to even danker depths they did in that football scene in There's Something About Mary, but all the jokes are done in good taste and even though it takes the piss out of the mentally challenged, most of the jokes are on 'us'. What is predominant throughout The Ringer is heart - a feel good movie that might just leave you with a silly grin on your face. It might say a lot when Knoxville's acting is on par with his 'exceptional' co-stars (who steal the show) and in an attempt at post modernism, make a nod and a wink to his limited acting talents: 'I've seen better acting in porno'. Cox looks like Cox and acts like Cox but the politically incorrect lines he delivers may just make you question 'is this the heavyweight actor that once played Hannibal Lecktor?'
