The Ringer

Johnny Knoxville gets suckered into his smarmy uncle’s sports-betting scheme, posing as a Special Olympics contender and doling out Shallow Hal-like life lessons in this goofy Farrelly-produced flick The Ringer. EXTRAS A slick PSA-style piece on the competition and a The Ringer making-of reinforce that it’s about laughing with, not at, the intellectually challenged, who were equal players on set. The filmmakers’ goals? Debunking prejudices and retiring the R-word. Of Knoxville, reports a Special Olympics rep, athletes said, ”[If his fans] hear him say don’t ever call them ‘retard’ again, our life’s golden.”