| Product: |
The Ringer (DVD) |
| Date: |
23/10/06 (123 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Brian Cox is good
Disadvantages: Knoxville is not, uncomfortable, poor script
Imagine for a moment that you are an up and coming Hollywood star. You are known for your comedic persona and are finally being offered leading roles rather than the part of the best friend or adversary. Maybe you are Jack Black and decide to star in the excellent ‘School of Rock’, or maybe you are Ben Stiller and you see yourself in the genre defining ‘There’s Something About Mary’, or maybe you are Johnny Knoxville and the idea or pretending to be a special needs athlete to rig the Special Olympics in ‘The Ringer’, appeals to you? If you choose ‘The Ringer’, you lose.
Why? That’s what I would say to Knoxville, why? It is not that the film is particular offensive to the Special Needs community it’s just that it’s uncomfortable to watch and there are little, to no, laughs. But I will go into more details about this later.
Knoxville plays Steve Barker a nice guy who makes wrong decisions. One day at work he decides to ask his boss for more responsibility and is rewarded by being given the task of firing the janitor. Steve is too kind to fire the man so instead offers him a job mowing his lawn – without insurance! It’s with little surprise then that the new lawnmower man chops off his fingers and Steve has no money to pay for the op to sew them back on.
Enter Brian Cox as the unscrupulous Uncle Gary. Gary’s plan is to send former University track star Steve into the upcoming Special Olympics – all Steve has to do his pretend to be mentally challenged – what hilarity will ensue! Needless to say Steve realises that people with disabilities are just like you and me and that they can have as much fun as anyone. The film tries to make it obvious throughout that we are laughing with the Olympiads and at Steve and his Uncle.
With the general premise being to mock the Disabled without mocking them, this film suffers. Knoxville is not particular strong as I saw little difference between his acting as Steve and acting as the ‘mentally challenged’ Jeffy. Brian Cox is excellent as always and makes the best of a poor script. He is given the better lines as his character acts as the poor moral compass and offers off key opinions on matters that the rest of the cast are too afraid to utter. The role of the athletes are played by actors with Special Needs so are very effective in that manner. However, the dialogue they are given is not that good and they end up not being particular funny, though this is no fault of their own.
The direction, editing, make up and costume have little impact on the film as they are not really noticeable. They are too busy being let down with what is essentially a poor script. A comedy’s first goal must be that it is funny. If you add the ingredients of a dubious premise then being funny is extra important, as not to undermine the message you are trying to portray. ‘The Ringer’ fails spectacularly and not only is it not funny but it is also cringe worthy. If the film had given the disabled actors better lines you would have felt good watching a film giving a different set of actors a chance. You are instead left feeling embarrassed for everyone involved.
‘The Ringer’ was produced by the Farelly brothers who for a long time have made a career from gross out films with a heart. They have used disabled actors in most of their films so they definitely have people’s interest at heart. The problem with this film is not that it mocks those with Special Needs, but that when a chance to create a film that stars many disabled actors occurs it’s a shame to waste it on this derivative drivel.
I am a fan of many of these laid back American comedies so when I say this is poor I truly mean it (because I usually rate this genre higher than most. ‘The Ringer’ is a wasted opportunity and an uncomfortable non-funny experience. I am not surprised that Knoxville ran back to the safety of another ‘Jackass Movie’ because if he does not fire his agent soon he will just be another footnote in Hollywood comedy lore.
Summary: Avoid - even comedy fans
|
|
