Kim Peek was a famous actress in the past. I would recommend this movie to everyone. Early in the movie, Steve's uncle and some other lowlifes use Menu. a photo or picture of you? More likely. But when Steve's fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person. Jeffy want Lynn be happy.). Six months later, Steve has quit his job and is working in theater, producing a play with the friends he made during the Special Olympics, as well as Stavi, who got his fingers reattached. Those guys are as much of stars in this film as actors Johnny Knoxville and Katherine Heigl. NOT a "heavy" message film at all, just a comedy for everyone who loves to laugh, regardless of their abilities. To chat with the 33-year-old Flowers, you'd never know, either. About 150 disabled actors are involved in the film. The production provides decent work for legally blind people. Led by the charisma and sensitivity of champion Tenrio, a new generation of judo is revealed and inspired. For 17 years, the San Antonio gym teacher has coached Flowers in Special Olympics (he competes in tennis, table tennis, hoops and bocci), while acting as his mentor and, for the past year, his landlord. But the physical comedy and naive sweetness really won me over in the end. Leading man Johnny Knoxville (of Jackass fame) plays Steve Barker, a man with money problems who tries to scam his way out of his situation by faking a mental disability to participate in and fix the Special Olympics. 46 Metascore; 2005; 1 hr 34 mins . Should we feel chastised by the very movie that made us do it in the first place? A long time ago when I first saw the trailer for "The Ringer" my reaction to it was what the hell? I figured on seeing a jackass-ian treatment of the mentally challenged and avoided it like the plague - I shouldn't have. From left: the actors . Maybe I'm the one who is screwed up, and I'm certainly no professional when dealing with handicaps, but I am a substitute teacher and have often been blessed to be assigned to the special needs classes, so I have been around many special students. Flowers hits back with, "So hot!" There is a sincere note on the Internet Movie Database, from the mother of a disabled child and Special Olympics participant. (Jeffy is glad to meet Lynn. During the competition, Steve falls in love with Lynn (Katherine Heigl), a volunteer for the Special Olympics. Then the trailer for "The Ringer" disappeared for a while and then resurfaced completely re-edited. PG-13, one F-word, some vulgarity and innuendo and gross humor. He ad-libbed some of his The Special Olympics gave their blessings to the makers of this movie. How much of what theyre doing is acting and how much is just them being their everyday mentally challenged selves? I was tempted, but afraid the audition might come across the wrong way. He and Knoxville became great friends. He's so well-known in SO circles that when Ringer director Barry Blaustein asked the organization to help cast an actual athlete in the role of cocky champ Jimmy Washington, Flowers was the first name offered. In 1990, Flowers was 18 and competing in his second year of Special Olympics. Media Inventory: What I Watched and Read in 2022, Media Inventory: What I Watched and Read in 2021. Soon after, Knoxville suggests they reenact the poster from the 1979 Barbra Streisand boxing flick The Main Event. Actor: The Ringer. People with physical and mobility impairments need . While working, Stavi loses three fingers in a lawn-mower accident, and reveals that he does not have health insurance; Steve decides to raise $28,000 within two weeks to pay for the surgery to re-attach Stavi's fingers. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Steve has an Uncle Gary ( Brian Cox) who is wanted by the mob regarding a past-due loan, and knows how he and Steve can raise the money they need. There is a great message behind the film. And one of her most unforgettable accomplishments is the movie entitled "Rain" which is included in the details of her biography as a famous person. They simply do not endorse ANYTHING, yet they are completely and 100% behind this movie. stt86 1 yr. ago Sean Penn in I am Sam 'Dukes Of Hazzard' was a hoot 'Walking Tall' was another good Knoxville flick. : "There's a new sheriff in town, Eddie, and his name is Leonard Flowers. I got a few chuckles out of the film, early on when it was just flat-out making fun of retarded people hey, I can laugh at taboo things as well as the next guy and later, when some of the athletes cracked a few solid one-liners. Special Olympics? Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. The popular 2005 Farrelly Steve doesn't have that kind of money, and there's no way he can get it on time. It comes across as an insensitive, politically incorrect film that degrades mentally challenged people and pokes fun at the Special Olymics when it is actually not like that at all. The smile, the bling and the shades all screamed Rickey. I mean it. The megamasochistic Jackass, who's attached electrodes to his testicles and gone one-on-one with a Taser all in the name of "fun," is at it again. forward to meeting people here. Don't watch it if you're a bleeding heart liberal who can see the wrong in everything. This film has been given a blessing by the Special Olympics. So Steve fires him, and then hires him to mow the lawn at his condo, and gives him a raise out of his own salary, and then Stavi Loses Fingers. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ringer_(2005_film)&oldid=1151447288. But when Steve's fellow competitors get wise to the con, they . other athletes in a Shakespeare play. Why? Funk portrayed one of the debt collectors, while Ventura lent his voice as a motivational speaker on tape. "Because 'The Ringer' is about awareness," he said by phone from I'll simplify the basic plot: a man needs to make some money and so joins the special Olympics and eventually tries to go out with one of the trainers. Youre really laughing with them. Also some regular Special Guys who, once they've blown Jeffy's cover, think it's cool that anyone would be stupid enough to try a stunt like that. Are any of the actors in the ringer mentally challenged? They have four children. 5, with an estimated $7 million earned from his hit program, The Bill Simmons Podcast. The Ringer is a 2005 American slapstick sports comedy starring Johnny Knoxville, Katherine Heigl, and Brian Cox with cameos by Terry Funk and Jesse Ventura. Stavi, who always refers to himself in the third person, seems to speak in capitalized words, as in Stavi's Kids Will Starve, or HMO Says Stavi Has No Finger-Sewing Insurance. The other 5%? are all about. Well, almost never. Most of the jokes were directed towards the Jeffy character played by Johnny Knoxville. When we were trying out co-hosts on the TV show, they called me and pitched Rocket for the job. Barker must fire a janitor of long-time status to the company, but he feels sorry for him and rehires him for a new job. The Ringer - Full Cast & Crew. They want to shake my hand. Besides winning 60-plus medals during his 16-year career, Flowers has become almost synonymous with Special Olympics. The pose lasts for 25 minutes. I look forward to watching this film again. [4], Producer Farrelly is himself a longtime volunteer with Best Buddies, a group that provides mentoring program for people with intellectual disabilities, and has prominently featured characters with disabilities in his previous films such as Warren the brother of Mary in There's Something About Mary and Rocket in Stuck on You. But not in the form of cheap jibes at disabled people. He speaks on behalf of SO some 50 times a year, and in 1998 he appeared on a Wheaties box. 32 lingering post-draft questions: Will Lions have regrets? I saw it at a special preview. Excellent performances by Knoxville, Heigl, and especially Jed Rees and Bill Chott for their unforgettable performances as Glen and Thomas (both from Galaxy Quest) . For example: "If people watch this movie and have no idea you're intellectually disabled, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Steve reluctantly does so, but hires him to work around his apartment. The biggest problem with this movie is that it attempts to teach a lesson of equality, justice, and opportunity while doing the exact opposite. Johnny Knoxville as Jeffy is great, not the insensitive jerk he may seem to be from Jackass. Takes a premise that could've backfired, but masterfully uses it for humor and heart. It does make many people uncomfortable as a topic, but this film handles all these issues beautifully and was made with the support and guidance of Special Olympics with real mentally challenged athletes in pivotal roles. During the medal ceremony, Steve admits that he is not developmentally disabled, reveals his true name, and gives his medal to Thomas, who had finished fourth. "[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". But he goes along with the plan anyway, and then practices different retarded characters in the mirror, complete with hilarious retarded catchphrases. Passing through the main temples of Judo, our visually impaired athletes face the many challenges of training in an unknown country. Or Chad Johnson. A: STAVI stands for Southern Animal Association for People with Visual Impairments. Imagine you are the woman hes lied to. A longtime volunteer with Best Buddies, a mentoring program for people with intellectual disabilities, Farrelly saw an opportunity to show the moviegoing masses that people with intellectual disabilities are multifaceted and, most of all, fun. This 2005 movie stars Johnny Knoxville as Steve, who poses as mildly mentally disabled Jeffie so he can rig the Special Olympics. After breakfast, as you watch Flowers pal around with Knoxville at a photo shoot, you still have few clues that he's intellectually disabled. the word "retards" and "'tards." Early in a basketball game, the opposing coach called time and asked to see proof that Flowers was, in fact . Once again, then, the infamous Farrelly brothers have squandered an opportunity to do some genuine good. The Ringer. they make Steve come clean. But seeing this movie made them understand how some of them are and it made them want to help. The film includes about 150 disabled athletes and actors the largest population of intellectual disabled people ever portrayed in a mainstream movie, Farrelly said. The Ringer. Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. on the "Let's Be Cops," red carpet, Selena Gomez is immortalized in wax and more. Besides a little language, this is a film for all ages. "And out of 600 people, they picked Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. Eddie Barbanell can. Four jobs, to be exact. funniest lines, such as this line from a scene in which he watches These are people who have At the beginning of the basketball game, the opposing coach announced the time and demanded proof that Flowers was actually mentally retarded, or as he was then called mentally retarded (abbreviated as MR).