Review of The Ringer (2005) by Markb. — 10 Jan 2006

Under normal circumstances, the only person who'd qualify as being equally or more despicable than someone who attempts to rig the Special Olympics is someone who thinks the whole idea is a real gas and tries to make a comedy about it.

Well, as those of us who have watched There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal already know, there's nothing normal about the Farrelly brothers. They have a large number of off-screen friends who are physically and/or mentally challenged (and cast them in nearly all their movies) , they do a lot of spare-time volunteer work for related causes, and in general they work out of not only a deep sense of compassion but also affection for this community.

And believe it or not, they and screenwriter Ricky Blitt and director Barry Blaustein actually come up with a farcically plausible premise that makes nice guy Steve's attempt to pull off such an outrageous ruse at least understandable (if definitely not justifiable).

It says a lot for the depth of The Ringer's insight into its subject matter that Steve's mentally challenged teammates see through his con almost immediately; they instinctively know he isn't one of them.

The dodgiest plot element is that the movie's potential romantic interest (Katherine Heigl), a Special Olympics coach, DOESN'T catch on that Steve is pretending to be what he's not, but this is chalked up to a good-natured naivete on her part that also allows her to be strung along by the traditional Bad Boyfriend.

The movie is sweet but not sentimental (at least until the last ten minutes when it's genuinely earned the right to be); it's consistently amusing while pulling off the small miracle of NOT making you feel bad about laughing, and the casting is truly impressive: it's extremely difficult to tell which of the Special Olympians in the film are being played by really good actors pretending to be challenged and which are real-life mentally challenged folks who also really good actors.

(I tried to guess a couple of times and was wrong on both counts.) Brian Cox plays Steve's slimy uncle, who concocts the plot, and if I wasn't previously convinced of what a great actor he is, I am now: forget his moving monologue at the end of 25th Hour or that he was the original Hannibal Lector; if his ability to make this sleazebag come across as fairly likable isn't the mark of greatness, nothing is.

And as for Johnny Knoxville (The Dukes of Hazzard), let's just say that I'm not normally a fan, to say the least; the close-up of a filled department store commode in Jackass: The Movie pretty much sums up my general opinion of his career--but here he not only makes the difficult masquerade work, but surprisingly turns out to be an engaging, funny and sympathetic leading man.

Just one unexpected surprise in a movie that's full of them: The Ringer takes the worst, most tasteless movie premise of 2005 and turns it into one of that year's most entertaining and endearing crowd-pleasers.