Movieo
Poster for The Ringer

The Ringer

Make it special.

2005 · 1h 34m · PG-13 Comedy
Directed by Barry W. Blaustein

Seen it?

Overview

Pressured by a greedy uncle and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve's fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
40%
Tomatometer
Fresh

The Ringer, for all its glaring flaws, pulls the rug out from under us.

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Rotten

It's just so predictable.

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Rotten

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.

Akiva Gottlieb, Village Voice
Rotten

The worthwhile bits are few and far between. In the rush to avoid exploiting the athletes, the filmmakers have stuck it to the audience instead. Not funny.

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Fresh

Predictable and unconvincing as romantic comedy, the movie is surprisingly sweet and funny whenever Steve is hanging out with his fellow Special Olympics players.

John Hartl, Seattle Times

Comments

Talk about the film with other members

More films