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The Ringer | 2005 | PG-13 | - 4.4.5

Johnny Knoxville stars as a man who finds himself in a financial bind and is convinced by his conman uncle that they can make easy money by fixing the Special Olympics -- if he would only pretend that he's intellectually challenged. They are surprised to discover that Special Olympians can not only be great athletes but also generous, even to cheaters. Also with Brian Cox, Katherine Heigl, Jed Rees and Bill Chott. Directed by Barry Blaustein. [1:40]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A man and a woman kiss passionately in a movie theater, a man and a woman kiss and hug, a man kisses a woman in the neck, and a man leans toward a woman to kiss her, but she stops him and leaves.
 Several men in a sauna are wrapped with towels around their waists (bare chests and abdomens are visible) and they dance (their bare legs to the hip are visible). Men and women are shown in swimwear in a swimming pool scene, and one man wears bikini trunks. A man's track uniform is extremely form-fitting revealing his endowment, and a man lifts his shirt a couple of times revealing his bare abdomen. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage, and a woman wears a short top that reveals bare abdomen. A man admires a woman in a swimsuit.
 Men and women slow dance together, holding each other close, and men and women dance together at a party. A man falls on the ground, a woman helps him up and he looks at her with romantic interest. A man flirts with a woman in a few scenes.
 A man describes another man who had his pants down while the woman who was with him was looking for her earring.
 A man talks about watching pornographic videos. A man offers another man sex (presumably in jest). A man tells another man to "bring protection" on a date. A man refers to a woman as a "hooker." A man talks about thinking that his nephew would be having sex with numerous women, using crude terms. Song lyrics include "I see pretty girls everywhere I go."
 A man kisses his adult nephew on the cheek (he has a cigar in his mouth but it does not appear to be lit). Several men hug another man as a greeting in several scenes.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A man puts his hand under a running lawn mower, we hear a loud crack and he screams; we see his hand with a bloody bandage and we see another man carrying three severed fingers in a plastic bag.
 A man is punched in the face by a priest in a confessional, the man is then dragged out of the church and punched and thrown down a flight of stairs by the same priest. A man is punched in the stomach repeatedly in several scenes. A man is hit really hard on the side of the head with a ball.
 A man grabs a man by the neck and squeezes while another man threatens him; then the first man slams his head onto a bar and pushes his face down. A woman slaps a man in the face. A dog chases a man and bites him on the buttocks. Six men wake another man up and literally drag him out of bed in several scenes (we hear a loud thud when he hits the floor).
 A man falls off a ladder and lands on his back (he's OK). A man does a high jump over a bar, misses the mat and lands hard on the ground. A man slips and falls hard on a shower floor. A man trips over hurdles in several scenes. A man falls on the ground. A man trips and falls hard on the floor. A man is hit in the crotch with a water balloon, he runs after the man who hit him, they have a water fight with several other men, and one man slips in the water and falls on the floor.
 Several men shove a man onto a bed and accuse him of being dishonest. A man jumps and whimpers when another man reaches to shake his hand. A man yells at another man in several scenes.
 A man talks about his wife having died and that he was left to raise five children alone. A woman talks about her brother having died.
 We see a man's hand with surgical scars on his fingers. A man cleans a toilet putting his arm up to the elbow inside the bowl. A man talks about another man using his bathroom and that he left it dirty. A man drinks a "protein drink" made of eggs and raw meat, he spits it out and then vomits on another man's shoes. A man spits chewed food out of his mouth and onto another man while talking. A man talks about having vomited.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 1 near F-word derivative ("mother-faker"), 1 obscene hand gesture, 8 sexual terms, 8 scatological terms (1 clinical), 8 anatomical terms (4 mild), 13 mild obscenities, 5 derogatory terms for physically and/or mentally challenged individuals, name-calling (stupid, special, loser), 10 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man says to his uncle, "I don't have any pot." People are shown drinking alcohol and smoking cigars and cigarettes in a bar. A man has a cigar tucked into the side of his mouth in every scene that he is in.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - People who are mentally and/or physically challenged, handicaps, disabilities, gambling, sports gambling, fixing sporting events, infidelity, motivation, success, conceit, regret, love, overconfidence, betrayal, failure, dishonesty, fraud, determination, death of a spouse, death of a parent, death of a sibling, political incorrectness, responsibility, intimacy, family, pursuing your dreams, trying, health insurance (or lack of it).

MESSAGE - People with disabilities can teach others a lot and are worthy of respect. There is good and bad everywhere.

(Note: A man pretends to be mentally challenged throughout most of the movie.)

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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