The Ringer a decent diversion, but not very funny nor memorable

Rating: 6/10 (4 July 2006)

When I first heard of a movie about fixing the Special Olympics, the first thought that came to mind was how tasteless the movie would be. Sure, South Park got away with having an episode about the Special Olympics, but we've come to expect the most blatantly offensive stuff possible from South Park. Then, when the name Johnny Knoxville was associated with the film, it all made sense. Who else can do the outrageously offensive like Johnny Knoxville? Surprisingly, the movie isn't really offensive at all. Also surprisingly, the movie isn't very funny at all either.
What starts this whole need for this retarded scheme seems a little overly complicated, but it serves its purpose. Steve Barker (Knoxville) is facing a small crises. After getting a promotion, his first task is to fire kindly old janitor Stavi. He can't bring himself to do it, so he has Stavi mow lawns at his apartment building. This plan works alright until Stavi loses his fingers in a lawnmower. Steve, without any medical insurance for Stavi, now must come up with $25,000 in two weeks or Stavi will lose his fingers.
Enter Steve's Uncle Gary (Cox), who is having problems of his own with his bookies. He then comes up with the idea to have Steve, who was a track star and drama star in high school, to enter the Special Olympics, presumably being able to wipe the floor with the disabled and allowing huge winnings if Gary bets on Steve over the favourite, Jimmy (Flowers). After much argument, Steve agrees to go along with the scheme to help Stavi.
Everything else that happens in the movie follows the path that anyone would expect. Steve (now known as Jeffy) passes himself off as 'special', but finds that the actual Special Olympians are talented enough to basically wipe the floor with him. He falls for cute counsellor Lynn (Heigl), but obviously doesn't have a chance with her since she knows him as Jeffy. He also manages to befriend that actual disabled athletes and essentially become one of them. The movie doesn't try to deviate from the formula for something of its type, even if it does have an interesting twist by making it about the Special Olympics.
A plot that lacks in substance or creativity is pretty well a staple of comedies with the likes of Johnny Knoxville, so that would be entirely forgivable if the movie managed to still be funny. This is, of course, the main problem with the movie. It simply isn't all that funny. Sure, there is the occasional chuckle from the behaviour of the 'special' athletes, but other than that, the movie has almost zero laughs.
It would be easy to blame Knoxville for this, but he is definitely trying. He does a good job overall with his impersonation, but his character is never really written anything funny. He is made to be pathetic, but not laughably so. We all know that Johnny Knoxville can be funny, but in this movie, he is just made to be warm and fuzzy, and never funny like he should have been.
The one surprising thing about this movie is just how light-hearted it is. Seeing as it stars Johnny Knoxville, I was expecting a crass and crude comedy that consisted mainly of fart jokes and slaps in the face towards the disabled. The movie is actually hardly offensive at all, portraying the athletes as real people rather than children, just with certain problems. They aren't walking around wearing helmets or falling down randomly or anything else you would expect from the likes of Knoxville.
The fact that it is inoffensive definitely makes The Ringer tolerable, but it still doesn't stop the fact that the movie just isn't that funny. While it is a decent nothing-better-to-do rental, there is no way to recommend this whole-heartedly. There was potential, but the movie wastes it all. Perhaps a better writer could have made the movie more than just a pleasant deviation into something a little more memorable.
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