“The Ringer” is a perfect example of a good idea, executed poorly. Once viewed, you are left with the impression that they had good intentions, but lacked the ability to bring that ambition to fruition. The story was lamebrained, to a higher degree than your typical cockamamie slapstick flick. All through the movie, I consistently asked myself.. “I wonder where, the funny went?”
Giving us a flaccid story,uninspired performances, and amateur direction, the only positive in watching “The Ringer” is some funny one liners. Yet, even those were few and far between.
The Ringer Directed by Barry W. Blaustein
Its a comedy about Steve(Knoxville) and his uncle Gary (Cox) decide to rig the Special Olympics to pay off two separate debts. Gary must pony up cash for gambling too much and Steve’s gardener got into an accident and now he must pay for a surgery. So in this nutty plan, Steve must act disabled and pose as a contestant in the games, hoping to dethrone reigning champion, Jimmy. Then, things become so much more interesting when Lynn a possible love interest enters the picture.
Me No Like
Before, and even during the movie, I honestly was pushing to like it. It was a futile effort. Why? Because it felt as if It was a movie that was attacked by procrastination. As if, at the final moments of production, they just threw a half finished job together and called it a movie. The filming and editing was choppy and endlessly annoying. Also, to complete the ruin, it was greatly lacking in the humor department.
The Actors
Johnny Knoxville played mentally disabled at one point, and guess what we find.. more artistic poverty. Johnny boy did a foul job as the leading man. In every part of the movie he seemed uninspired, and showing how little acting classes he has probably taken. It is almost like they choose someone at random from the street, placed him in front of a camera and said: perform. He looks complete unprepared and unable to send any of the characters feelings our way. Much like all the other movies I’ve seen him in. (i.e. The Dukes of Hazzard)
Brian Cox who I love from “Adaptation”, plays Gary the compulsive gambler. I find his over-the-top performance here sad. I loved him in so many movies, but here he is only in bit parts and his performance is bad because his character has nothing to offer us… nothing besides helping the story move forward.
On the romantic side of Johnny’s character is a lady called Lynn Sheridan who is played by Katherine Heigl. Who recently is doing a great job in a show called “Greys Anatomy”. She is one of the few things I liked in this movie. She was the only one of the actors to bring out the qualities that the script asked for. She played a volunteer who aids mentally disabled athletes. Lynn had to be sweet, kind, and caring. And a great job she did at acting lovable.
The Special One’s
Besides Katherine playing Lynn, one more thing that I liked about the movie was the portrayal of the disabled people. They were not shown in an insulting or making fun of, manner. Rather than ridiculing the retarded ones, they showed respect for them. Choosing not to laugh at them, but rather to laugh with them. Showing how they may be limited, but they still have much to offer.
Regardless, however, of its good intention “The Ringer” still falters in an infinite amount of ways. In its mild manners, it still delivers very little content of humorous entertainment. It has a few funny lines, but not enough to earn a positive recommendation.