Surprisingly Excellent - Surpassed Expectations

Rating: 9/10 (5 October 2006)

I heard of this movie when it first came out. I figured on seeing a jackass-ian treatment of the mentally challenged and avoided it like the plague - I shouldn't have.
After reliable friends assured me that THEY TOO expected nothing from this film, but were pleasantly surprised when it was a gem, I nabbed it from the local library.
The comedy is where it should be - Knoxville's's character is the reluctant participant in his situation. His special olympian cohorts are outstanding. Sure, these are all high-functioning individuals, but they are only very mildly characiturized -and- are in ways that unfold neatly capable of much more than "Jeffy" (Knoxville's character) gives them credit for.
Thus, this flick is a comedic treatment that at no point belittles or unfairly mocks the challenged, adds in a cute love story (it's no Moonstruck, but hey), that carries a message -lightly-; the 'message' one might come away with would be personal, and not everyone would take away the same one. (The one I got was not a cheezey "be nice to the mentally challenged") Grab it on DVD; it's a worthwhile watch that will give some perspective.