charming, but a little confused

Rating: 7/10 (4 January 2006)

I think Johnny Knoxville was a great choice for this role being someone who many associate with the sub-juvenile antics of Jackass. It wouldn't be a stretch to picture him making fun of mentally challenged people. I just don't think he was really allowed to go the full distance with it.
His character is never really established as someone who is insensitive or crass, but rather a hopelessly nice person. The result is that there is minimal payoff when he realizes that his fellow Special Olympians are a lot more capable than he'd given them credit for. Instead his uncle, played by Brian Cox, is set up as the lout with no scruples when it comes to making a quick buck. The problem is that we never see how his attitude toward the mentally challenged is changed at the end of the film.
It's not a surprise that both my viewing partner and I left the theater a bit confused as to how we were supposed to feel about the mentally challenged characters in this movie.