Movie Review of the Ringer

Synopsis: A man, desperate for money, pretends to be mentally disabled so he can enter the Special Olympics and help his uncle win a bet.

Who's in it? Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox and Katherine Heigl.

What I liked about this movie: This is one of those films that can either be very funny or make you feel very guilty watching it. As it turns out, it was the former and not the latter.

The writers do a good job avoiding stereotypes and keeping the movie funny without necessarily saying or doing something that would be hurtful to real Special Olympics athletes. In fact, it was the exact opposite; the jokes were geared more toward Knoxville's character.

There were a couple things that really won me over about this film. One of the main ones is Knoxville's character isn't necessarily a bad guy. He hates the fact he's doing it and even tries to confess his sins to a priest (who beats him up) but needs the money to help a friend. I also loved the fact that the movie makes sure to make him somewhat of an underdog athletically even though you would assume it would be the exact opposite.

What I didn't like about this movie: First of all, the plot is somewhat predictable and follows the same tired format most sports movies/romantic comedies follow. I won't spoil the movie by revealing the exact ending but it wasn't something that I didn't see coming halfway through.

Also, I'm not a lawyer, but the last I checked, fixing a sports contest is illegal. Am I the only one who found it odd that there is no mention of criminal charges for him?

Final Opinion: As I said before, the movie is predictable and not something that is necessarily special. But, it was better than I expected it to be and is worth watching if you haven't seen it.

My Grade: 3 stars out of a possible 5.