REVIEWED - THE RINGER: THROUGH circumstances too contrived to allow repetition, an office worker, played by the reliably broad Johnny Knoxville, is implicated in the severing of an elderly immigrant's fingers. Our hero, a former college athlete, comes up with a plan to pay for the poor fellow's operation: after betting heavily on himself, he will enter the pentathlon in the Special Olympics.

The mischievous reader, aware that The Ringer is produced by The Farrelly Brothers, might, quite reasonably, expect such a plot to generate much bracingly improper tastelessness. After all, the kids of South Park did manage to encourage more than a few guilty laughs with a similar story.

Think again. Banners bearing logos, conspicuously displayed merchandise and frequent, unsubtle encomiums in the dialogue make it all too poundingly clear that this frightful film is actually presented in conjunction with the Special Olympics. As a result, the comedy is hopelessly neutered and clumsily fearful of treading on anybody's toes.

Few scenes in cinema history have been as queasily discomforting as those in which Knoxville attempts to caricature the gestures common to people with learning difficulties while surrounded by cast members - some of them genuine Special Olympians - who exhibit those actions involuntarily.

Aware that this is a nice film, not a nasty one, Knoxville appears to be inclining his head in an implicit plea for forgiveness throughout. Either that or his toes have curled to such an excruciating extent that agony renders him unable to stand upright. Such sequences help make this film, though not as fast or as clever as others, all too Special.

Eager to clarify that we mean the Special Olympics, a commendable organisation, no ill, we direct you towards its website, where readers can learn how to assist with fundraising:

www.specialolympics.ie