The Ringer is a comedy about a man who pretends to be mentally disabled in order to enter the Special Olympics. Executive Produced by the Farrelly Brothers, purveyors of bad taste, the guys who gave us the disturbing, yet hilarious Something About Mary and starring Johnny Knoxville who made his name on MTV’s Jackass, I figured this movie had to be the height of bad taste and political incorrectness. Surprisingly though, it treats the disabled characters with respect. It’s actually kind of sweet.

Steve Barker (Knoxville) is a too-nice-for-his-own-good office worker who needs to raise thousands of dollars for his friend’s surgery. He’s roped into the fraud by his degenerate gambler uncle, Gary (Brian Cox). After doing some research, which consists of watching I am Sam and Forrest Gump, Steve becomes Jeffy and moves into a Special Olympics dorm.

As the competition begins, The Ringer becomes rather funny. The story doesn’t compromise. It’s cool to see Special Olympic athletes as the everyday kids that they are. When a group of the Special Olympics athletes discover the deception of Steve/Jeffy, they want to help him win, because they’re sick of watching the same disabled guy get all the publicity on Dateline and 20/20. Along the way, there’s a spunky volunteer named Lynn (Katherine Heigl), who Steve falls in love with—as Jeffy—that leads to its own set of complications.

The bad guy is a competitor named Jimmy Washington (“That guy’s the Deion Sanders of retards,” a bar patron remarks), played with self-righteous humor by real-life Special Olympics athlete Leonard Flowers. He has some genuinely funny lines. Is The Ringer isn’t a great film, but I admired its spirit. It might have been better if the Farrellys had directed, instead of Barry W. Blaustein, whose only previous experience behind the camera had been the 1999 wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. Johnny Knoxville is the star here and is consistently funny. However, if you’re looking for his Jackass antics, go rent one of those instead, as you won’t find any of that humor here.

Presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, 20th Century Fox has given The Ringer a solid 1080p transfer. The image has a nice level of clarity, and details are impressive. You can see the wrinkles on Johnny Knoxville’s face, and the corduroy stripes on his beige work jacket. Black levels aren’t perfect, but they’re suitable to the presentation. Colors are rich and vibrant throughout, and flesh tones look natural. There are no real artifacts to report.

While the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track won’t blow you away, it does a solid job. The surround sound is extremely front heavy, though effects sound true and clear. The subwoofer was active throughout, though it only showed real ‘life’ during the track meet scenes. Dialogue is always clear.

English SDH, and Spanish subtitles are included.

The following extras are available:

  • Audio Commentary by Johnny Knoxville and the Creative Team: Knoxville, director Barry W. Blaustein, screenwriter Ricky Blitt, producer Peter Farrelly and actors Johnny Knoxville, Edward Barbanell and John Taylor discuss various aspects of the film including the shooting process, various scenes, and more.
  • Let The Games Begin: A Look At The Ringer (HD, 7:07) Various cast and crew discuss the film. We are taken behind-the-scenes and learn that the production had the blessing of The Special Olympics.
  • Deleted Scenes (SD, 19:00) There are sixteen in total, and the footage is pretty beat up. Like most deleted material, nothing here would have added to the film.