"The Ringer" has its heart in the right place and its intentions are good but the movie is plagued with cheap jokes and an unimaginative plot. Johnny Knoxville plays Steve, a man bullied by his uncle to enlist in the track and field Special Olympics in order to win a bet. While competing, the other contestants see right through him, but they decide to keep his secret so that he can try and win the heart of Lynn (Katherine Heigl), a volunteer for the event.
The best thing about the film is the supporting cast, which are mostly newcomers and actors we normally wouldn't see in a comedy. It's refreshing to see people with Down syndrome or other disabilities being played "seriously" instead of being the butt of the joke. This film could have easily become very tasteless, if not downright offensive but it never gets to that point because the people in charge knew better. Unfortunately, for every good moment that feels genuine, there's a lame bit of comedic dialogue that feels phony. The big problem is that the main characters just aren't that interesting. The nice characters are nice throughout and are always forgiven when they screw up; the bad guys are bad and get their come-uppance in the end. No one has any real dimension or personality beyond what you see on the immediate surface and the way the love plot ends is very predictable. Even if you don't watch any movies your first guess as to how the relationship between Lynn and Steve plays out would be the correct one. If the characters had a bit of a mean streak or were a bit more edgy, this could have been something noteworthy and "The Ringer" could have overcome the flaws in the writing and plot but as is, it's just a sub-par, generic comedy more noteworthy for its supporting cast than for the writing, acting, romance or comedy. (On DVD, December 10, 2012)
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