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The Ringer

Play trailer Poster for The Ringer PG-13 Released Dec 23, 2005 1h 34m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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40% Tomatometer 89 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) 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 (Brian Cox), 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 The Ringer, for all its glaring flaws, pulls the rug out from under us. Jan 6, 2006 Full Review Richard Roeper Ebert & Roeper It's just so predictable. Jan 4, 2006 Full Review Akiva Gottlieb Village Voice 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. Dec 28, 2005 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 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. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 21, 2020 Full Review Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed Hits all the right notes in comedy, light down to Earth drama, and a resulting tasteful comedy that's worth watching. Apr 29, 2009 Full Review Brian Marder Hollywood.com Rated: 2/5 Nov 20, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Monica A 4.3/10 means bad Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/12/25 Full Review Kevin P 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/02/25 Full Review Jace E 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 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/21/25 Full Review William D I made my girlfriend watch it and now I have to sleep on the sofa. Worth it! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/13/24 Full Review Alex M Best movie of all time Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/13/24 Full Review Justin I You scratched my CD! You picked it up in clear daylight and you scratched it!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Barry W. Blaustein

Director

Johnny Knoxville

Steve Barker

Brian Cox

Gary

Katherine Heigl

Lynn

Zen Gesner

David Patrick

Leonard Flowers

Jimmy

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Movie Info

Synopsis Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) 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 (Brian Cox), 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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