Desk jockey Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) has just been promoted, but also has to fire his friend Stavi (Luis Avalos). He reluctantly does so but hires Stavi to work at his home, where Stavi then loses some fingers in a gardening accident. Being unable to pay Stavi's medical bills, Steve catches up with his uncle Gary (Brian Cox), himself deeply in debt from gambling, and they hatch a plan to match-fix the upcoming Special Olympics in Texas. A reluctant Steve agrees and enters the competition as the developmentally delayed Jeffy Dahmor and Gary, convinced Steve/Jeffy will win the competition in a cakewalk, bets $100 000 that defending champion Jimmy Flowers (Leonard Washington) will lose the gold medal. Despite his initial disgust at feigning an intellectual impairment, Steve goes along with it for Stavi.
With how frankly excessively PC so many of us have become now, I doubt The Ringer would've been made today but as somebody on the autism spectrum, I genuinely found it hilarious and sincerely sweet and here's why. Screenwriter Ricky Blitt and director Barry W. Blaustein clearly have no desire to attack any of the disabled characters here; instead their target is the so-called "hero" Steve, for quite passively complying with such an unethical and fraudulent scheme, and his disabled roommates are the only ones anyway who his act doesn't fool. It also subtly condemns the Special Olympics for how it can really exploit its athletes instead of promoting and celebrating them and for how easily the system can (at least apparently) be rorted.
With how frankly excessively PC so many of us have become now, I doubt The Ringer would've been made today but as somebody on the autism spectrum, I genuinely found it hilarious and sincerely sweet and here's why. Screenwriter Ricky Blitt and director Barry W. Blaustein clearly have no desire to attack any of the disabled characters here; instead their target is the so-called "hero" Steve, for quite passively complying with such an unethical and fraudulent scheme, and his disabled roommates are the only ones anyway who his act doesn't fool. It also subtly condemns the Special Olympics for how it can really exploit its athletes instead of promoting and celebrating them and for how easily the system can (at least apparently) be rorted.
The film also criticises stereotypes through its disabled characters without criticising the characters themselves, and the romance between Steve and SO volunteer Lynn (Katherine Heigl) is understated and uncliched. Overall, I think The Ringer is a daring romp with a warm, loving centre that earns a spot on the dais. 8/10.
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