Performers give the movie a pleasant quality

Johnny Knoxville, actual Special Olympians star.
By CHRIS HEWITT
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Have you ever watched an old sitcom -- "Leave It to Beaver," maybe, or "Andy Griffith" -- and thought, "This isn't really all that funny, but it's so homey and nice that I kinda like it anyway?" Watching "The Ringer" is a similar experience.
There are a few laughs -- more, at least, than the Beav generates. But a warm, pleasant quality is what distinguishes "The Ringer," a comedy about a loser (Johnny Knoxville) who tries to raise money for a friend's operation by pretending to be intellectually challenged so he can compete in -- and rig a bet on -- the Special Olympics.
Highlights
"Ringer" has the can-do quality of a "Mighty Ducks" movie, but what makes the movie distinctive is that the real Special Olympians almost immediately spot the ringer in their midst and decide to help him anyway because they hope he'll mop the floor with a jerk known as "the Deion Sanders of retards" for his Sanders-like gifts on the field and his Sanders-like bragging off it.
Most of the humor comes from Brian Cox's performance as Knoxville's scuzzy uncle. Most of the edge comes from pairing Knoxville with actual Special Olympics athletes in some of the supporting roles (Knoxville's inability to "pass" almost feels like a comment on such actors as Giovanni Ribisi in "The Other Sister," who always seem a little too delighted to be playing mentally challenged characters). And most of the sweetness comes from those Special Olympians, who underscore the film's premise by making every moment they're on-screen feel real.