The Ringer

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: December 23, 2005

6.0	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

CharlieN.May 17, 2006

It has a good heart, but it's not very funny.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

DawdlingPoetNov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Given the storyline, this is obviously not for the easily offended and when I originally heard of this, knowing Johnny Knoxville plays the main character I was put off, thinking it'd be quite controversial and he may play it in a very exaggerated way that could be quite tacky and I wouldn't particularly feel comfortable with. Having said that, I seem to be more keen on such movies/shows nowadays, so I obviously gave it a go and I have to say, its actually got more heart to it and is somewhat less mocking than I'd feared. It shows the other contestants in the 'special olympics' to be quite kind hearted and have something of a sense of humour themselves, ganging up on 'Jeffy' as the new guy and showing their intelligence in as much as they pick up on the fact that he's different to them.

There's certainly a sentimentality to it, which makes you feel for those portrayed as genuine 'special needs' people or contestants. As the movie continues, we see Steve become somewhat selfish, you could say, having his sites set on a member of staff but his situation, or predicament, shows himself up in a way thats quite satisfying to watch. In a way its quite formulaic in that there's the token love interest, the sometimes over-use of dramatic instrumental/motivational music during training scenes and everything. However, I liked the plot twists and there is definitely a nice sort of almost heartwarming side to it, although to some it may seem a bit saccarine sweet but I thought its not quite as patronising or offensive as it had the potential to be, which is slightly surprising given its an American movie and attitudes regarding people with special needs there can be, how can I say? somewhat different to ours. Ultimately, I'd say this is what they'd call the tale of a real underdog, on different levels (its hard to explain quite why without giving away spoilers), something that again Americans seem particularly keen on - fair play to them, I suppose.

Pace wise its quite good, it isn't too dull, doesn't lag especially in the start, middle or end which is always a positive and thus it certainly doesn't over run, at only a little over an hour and a half long. I especially liked how the different characters were portrayed, making them seem clearly more than their obvious physical and mental flaws, thats the main thing and its nice that the staff seem so enthusiastic, even if, or though, I felt that perhaps one or two aspects of the plot were somewhat unrealistic. Its pretty easy to watch, the storyline isn't complicated at all and its certainly a movie you can switch your brain off to watch. As far as humour/comedy is concerned, its usually of the slapstick, visual variety, pretty basic stuff, although some of the dialogue in the script is somewhat amusing as well.

Its very cheesy, rather formulaic and a little daft but not half as tasteless as it potentially could have been, some won't like it but others may be pleasantly surprised. As I say, it has a pretty decent mix of light hearted moments and more thought provoking, challenging scenes likely to, or presumably put in to make you consider your viewpoints.

It does seem slightly preachy in tone, given the way the plot develops, with hangups shown from the non-special needs people towards the contestants, making you question how different such people ultimately are, from more regular 'able bodied' or non mentally challenged folk (whatever the correct term is). It is perhaps a bit of a strange mix to have scenes of daft slapstick comedy, alongside the rather 'meaty' moral questions it may make you ponder but if thats what it takes to get people to think about it, well maybe its a good thing. It is quite Americanised I suppose you could say, I'm not sure I'd say its especially patronising, it certainly is a bit, although perhaps cheesy is a more accurate term really but I pretty much expected that and I'd much rather it be cheesy than downright mocking and out for some cheap laughs.

As I say this isn't for everyone. It is quite cheesy and those who analyse plots will likely think some aspects aren't very believable or realistic but I found it to be pretty entertaining overall, a quite easy watch - one with a mix of some amusing moments, a good amount of character or 'life' given to the characters (if you know what I mean) and so on. To sum up, it could probably be better but could certainly be worse, so overall I'm going for an average, 5 out of 10 rating and leaving it up to yourself to decide whether to give this a watch or not.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews