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The Ringmaster

Play trailer 2:20 Poster for The Ringmaster 2019 1h 28m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
An aging chef from Minnesota has his life turned upside down when a relentless filmmaker from Las Vegas tries to make the chef's onion rings world-famous.
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The Ringmaster

The Ringmaster

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Critics Consensus

A film whose creation becomes steadily more fascinating than the story it's trying to tell, The Ringmaster is a documentary to savor.

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Critics Reviews

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Ashleigh Gozy Loud and Clear Reviews Oct 25
3.5/5
The Ringmaster plays with all sorts of tactics we’ve seen before in films within the horror genre, and uses them to put audiences in their place. Go to Full Review
Shikhar Verma High on Films 01/15/2021
2.5/5
The Ringmaster - which in itself takes up newer meanings as it goes on, made me sit back and take notice. Go to Full Review
Bill Arceneaux Moviegoing with Bill 12/31/2020
3.5/5
A consistently resonant mishap madcap of mistakes and moments, all for the glory of film. Go to Full Review
Jessica Baxter jessicabaxter.com 12/09/2020
[A] film about obsession, selfishness, capitalist blinders, and addiction that will stick with you for a lot longer than would have a 30-minute show about onions rings. Go to Full Review
Rachel Wagner rachelsreviews.net 11/24/2020
7/10
It is this dual aspect of The Ringmaster that makes it interesting Go to Full Review
James Croot The Post NZ 06/15/2020
It all adds up to a compelling watch, best accompanied, of course, by a suitable salty snack. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Dillon W 02/04/2024 One of the best horror films I've seen in a long time See more Nathan A 01/16/2024 A fascinating documentary that quickly changes focus from a small-town restaurant owner and his onion rings to obsession of the filmmaker and how far he's willing to go for his passion project. See more 04/25/2022 Despite what that VICE Dark Side of the 90s would have you believe, Jerry Springer didn't invent his show format. Morton Downey Jr., Geraldo Rivera, Phil Donahue (who he was a clone of at first) and Wally George had all been there and done that, but Springer ended up hitting the cultural zeitgeist at the right time and knew early on that he needed to hire pro-wrestling-connected talent bookers to keep bringing in worked storylines to keep the machine moving. For some reason, Springer isn't himself but Jerry Farrelly. Was he embarrassed? After all, this is the one-time mayor of Cincinnati who paid for sexual favors with a personal check. Regardless, his show has three different storylines: You Did WHAT With Your Stepdaddy?: Angel Zorzak (Jaime Pressly, who deserved and got better) is sleeping with her mother Connie's (Molly Hagan, Code of Silence, The Dentist, Sometimes They Come Back... Again) husband Rusty (Michael Dudikoff, so deserves so much more, so go watch American Ninja or Avenging Force and think kind thoughts for him) while she's sleeping with Angel's boyfriend Willie. My Traitor Girlfriends: Demond (Michael Jai White, Spawn) is cheating on Starletta (Wendy Raquel Robinson) with her friends Vonda (Tangie Ambrose) and Leshawnette (Nicki Micheaux). The third is Jerry himself, who much like Chuck Barris in The Gong Show Movie, is afraid of the career and life that he has made. Director Neil Abramson and writer Jon Bernstein have a major issue to deal with: any sort of fake real episode of Springer's show is more interesting than what they could invent. Roger Ebert shared that he heard Springer once said, "I know I'm going to go to hell for doing this show." I don't think he will for this movie. It's too boring for eternal damnation. See more Read all reviews
The Ringmaster

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Movie Info

Synopsis An aging chef from Minnesota has his life turned upside down when a relentless filmmaker from Las Vegas tries to make the chef's onion rings world-famous.
Director
Dave Newberg, Molly Dworsky
Producer
Zachary Capp, Dave Newberg
Screenwriter
Zachary Capp, Molly Dworsky, Dave Newberg, Julian Williams
Production Co
Asteroid and Space Metals Recovery, Capp Bros
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 6, 2020
Runtime
1h 28m
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