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The Ringer

Play trailer Poster for The Ringer PG-13 2005 1h 34m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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40% Tomatometer 89 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Steve Barker finds himself in a predicament. His friend Stavi, whom he was forced to fire, loses several fingers in an accident, and he has no way of covering the cost of surgery without health insurance. Meanwhile, his gambling uncle, Gary, is racking up a huge debt. Needing money quickly to help Stavi and Gary, Barker reluctantly goes along with his uncle's plan to fix the Special Olympics, with Barker posing as an athlete -- but the competition is steep.
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The Ringer

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Critics Consensus

Despite a few laughs and good intentions, The Ringer is too predictable to really score the points it aims for.

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Critics Reviews

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Stephanie Zacharek Salon.com 01/06/2006
The Ringer, for all its glaring flaws, pulls the rug out from under us. Go to Full Review
Richard Roeper Ebert & Roeper 01/04/2006
It's just so predictable. Go to Full Review
Akiva Gottlieb Village Voice 12/28/2005
An uncomfortable intermingling of message movie and gross-out comedy, a sporadically funny vehicle that indicts its audience for laughing. Come on, guys. You can't have your fun and eat it too. Go to Full Review
Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 09/21/2020
3.0/4.0
Knoxville himself, whom I've trashed on more than one occasion, is remarkably entertaining here in a role that is both physically and mentally demanding. Go to Full Review
Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed 04/29/2009
Hits all the right notes in comedy, light down to Earth drama, and a resulting tasteful comedy that's worth watching. Go to Full Review
Brian Marder Hollywood.com 11/20/2008
2/5
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Audience Reviews

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Laikin K @baberaham Sep 29 Greatest film of all time 🐐 See more thiago s @Thiagostone Sep 25 Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom See more Sophia D Sep 4 Only a movie that could have been made in the early 2000s. From the premise to the writing. There are definitely some moments that are funny and it is good that there was growth from the main character. I just wished there was more going on behind the scenes. It was very basic and you could tell there were no neurodivergent people in the writing room. I think this movie could have been knocked out of the park if that was the case. unfortunately because there wasn't it toes the line between funny and offensive a good amount of time. Also a lot of the moments fall flat. The acting was great and there was one specific line that makes this movie. I will let you find it. I guess a good watch once but never again. See more Monica A Jul 12 4.3/10 means bad See more Kevin P Jun 2 A funny and sweet movie despite the potentially offensive premise that's handled with more care than you'd expect from a raunchy mid-20000's comedy. Johnny Knoxville's character might be rigging the Special Olympics with his fraudulent "acting", but there's surprisingly decent representation with many of the special Olympians being played by actors with disabilities that are characterized with a more grounded approach with contrasting personalities and street smarts as they immediately see through jimmy's character charade (thankfully early on instead of most comedies that try to make the "Liar reveal" trope as melodramatic as possible near the end....even if they have a smaller Liar reveal scene with another character). Johnny Knoxville is entertaining as the main lead, and Brian Cox is great as his sketchy uncle. His fake disability bits might be divisive to some viewers, but I'd argue the movie frames it well with everyone else's reactions to his true intentions since thankfully most of the comedy revolves around the contrast between his stereotypes and actual special Olympians. The plot is very formulaic with its sports & romcom cliches, but the main cast and their character work is funny and charming enough to make this a fun ride. See more Jace E @thefilmguy May 21 When the *** did we get ice cream? That line alone bumps this movie up a whole star. At its core, The Ringer is ridiculous. I don't know if a movie like this would ever get made today and probably for good reason. There are some genuinely funny moments, some uncomfortable ones and a whole lot of chaos. "Give a Stavi goodbye!" Best Character: Glen Best Quote: The aforementioned ice cream line. Best Scene: The growth montage See more Read all reviews
The Ringer

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Steve Barker finds himself in a predicament. His friend Stavi, whom he was forced to fire, loses several fingers in an accident, and he has no way of covering the cost of surgery without health insurance. Meanwhile, his gambling uncle, Gary, is racking up a huge debt. Needing money quickly to help Stavi and Gary, Barker reluctantly goes along with his uncle's plan to fix the Special Olympics, with Barker posing as an athlete -- but the competition is steep.
Director
Barry W. Blaustein
Producer
John Jacobs, Bradley Thomas
Screenwriter
Rick Blitt
Distributor
Fox
Production Co
Conundrum Entertainment
Rating
PG-13 (Language|Crude Humor|Sexual Humor|Some Drug References)
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 23, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 12, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$35.4M
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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