20 2000s Movies That Could Never Be Made Today

Johnny Knoxville has always imagined himself as more than a human punching bag, seeking to diversify his career early on and not get pigeonholed with the rest of the Jackass crew. And, to a certain extent, this worked, with the actor appearing opposite big names like Jackie Chan, Heath Ledger, and Burt Reynolds over the years. But if The Ringer had released in the 2020s, his career would have been over before it began.

The film puts Knoxville into action as Steve Barker, a well-meaning guy who tries to raise $28,000 in medical bill money when his immigrant handyman loses several fingers. Before the era of the GoFundMe, this meant finding creative routes to quick cash, and with his shady uncle Gary (Brian Cox) on board, Steve decides to enter and rig the Special Olympics. Thus, Knoxville assumes the guise of ‘Jeffy Dahmor’, and spends much of the rest of the film pretending he has a developmental disability – with all the gestures, expressions, and mannerisms this entails, in a catch-all offensive performance.

Needless to say, audiences don't go for this sort of thing anymore, and the people bankrolling the movie business know it. Knoxville defends it to this day, claiming it as a positive affirmation of those with special needs, rather than an attempt to poke fun at them, but whether the jury is out or not, this movie is never getting made again.