The Ringer

Steve Barker is a former high school athlete whose life has stalled. Short on money and under pressure from his uncle Gary, he agrees to a scheme: pretending to have an intellectual disability so he can enter the Special Olympics and win. Gary has bet heavily on him. Once the other athletes realize Steve is not who he claims to be, they decide to let him compete anyway, hoping he can finally beat Jimmy, the long-reigning champion. Their training and example push Steve toward a different goal than the one he started with. Johnny Knoxville plays Steve, with Brian Cox as Gary, Katherine Heigl as Lynn, Geoffrey Arend as Winston, Edward Barbanell as Billy and Bill Chott as Thomas.

The Ringer was released in 2005 and runs 94 minutes. It is a comedy directed by Barry W. Blaustein from a screenplay by Ricky Blitt, and produced by K.C. Hodenfield, Marc S. Fischer and Bobby Farrelly. It was made by Fox Searchlight Pictures and Conundrum Entertainment, with a credited cast of 37. It took about 40 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds 5.8 out of 10 from roughly 41,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.7 out of 10 from 365 votes. A critics' rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 89 reviews places it slightly below both audience scores, so critics were a little less positive than viewers.