Ringmaster (1998)

good film but with many flaws

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

RINGMASTER is a crude and raunchy fictionalized "behind the scenes" look at the production of an episode of THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW, the daytime talk show that makes stars out of ordinary white bread trailer trash who love to come on the show and air their dirty laundry in front of a national television audience. If you can accept the completely fabricated premise in which this story is presented, you might find some laughs here. This film shamelessly perpetrates the myth that Jerry and his staff recruit the guests for the show and do nothing else. It seems to claim that Jerry and his staff have nothing to do with the outrageous on stage shenanigans and that it is all spontaneous and unplanned, which we know for a fact is not true. If you can accept that the entire premise of this film is based on this huge lie, then it is easy to go along with the story of two separate groups of trailer trash being booked on the show. Jerry plays himself with as much sincerity as the plastic screenplay allows. Emmy winner Jaime Pressley (MY NAME IS EARL)and Wendy Raquel Robinson (THE GAME)offer energetic lead performances as the two protagonists in the separate stories being booked on the show. As stupid as this movie is, I still found myself laughing. There are laughs throughout and I have a feeling this film is going to be added to my "guilty pleasure" list because I found myself laughing despite the fact that I felt like I shouldn't be.

Was this movie stupid? Yup. Did this movie depth? Nope. Character development? Nope. Plot twists? Nope. This was simply a movie about a highly-fictionalized Springer show. It shows the lengths that some people will go to get their mugs on TV. Molly Hagan did a great job as Jaime Pressly's mom. Jaime is....well...GORGEOUS! This flick wasn't so much made to be a "breakthrough" movie, rather, it was intended to life in a trailer park (I live in a trailer park and ours is nothing like the one in this movie) where everyone sleeps with everyone else, all the girls get pregnant by different guys, and all the guys drive rusted-out '66 Ford pickups (exaggeration, of course, but that's the picture everyone sees when you mention "trailer park"). Some people over-analyze movies (case-in-point: Star Trek freaks). I watch movies purely for the entertainment value; not to point out that the girl is wearing a different shirt in a different scene (read the "Goofs" bit about Connie's shirt. Could it have been better? Sure. But it was funny as hell.

I can't agree with any of the comments. First time I saw the film on a UK TV channel, it was presented as an indie film and if you take the film under this angle I think it's an all different matter. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and got hooked instantly. The plot may be as bad as a JS's show (ie there is no plot) but the acting is wicked, it's hilarious and it's all in all an incredible trash movie. It says as much about America than a Bully or a Ken Park without the drama perspective but it gives a glimpse on the US society, and more precisely on what afternoon TV viewers in America (and I believe there are plenty of them !) are interested in. After all it's the neighbours we're talking about, don't we ?100% fun !

For the life of me, I cannot get why they would want to make a movie about the "Jerry Springer Show". It's so incrediably trashy. Some ways, sadly it's a guilty pleasure. We all have to admit that we've seen at least one episode. It's part of our pop culture. I saw this on USA recently. It's pretty bad. I will admit that. Jerry does a horrible job of what I think he meant as acting. Or something like it. Jamie Pressley is in it. She's playing herself basically. All she needed was her lover boy, Kid Rock. It would've been perfect then. So, I would recommend skipping "Ringmaster". Just watch the "Jerry Springer Show". It's more enjoyable than this.2/10