The Ringer (2005) on Netflix
Steve Barker needs $28,000 for surgery after his friend Stavi loses three fingers to a lawnmower. His uncle Gary proposes rigging the Special Olympics, and Steve poses as a contestant.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb5.8/1041,171 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes40%
Trailer
Plot summary
Steve Barker is promoted at work and ordered to fire his friend Stavi, an immigrant janitor. He takes Stavi on to work around his apartment instead, and there a lawnmower accident costs Stavi three fingers; with no health insurance, reattaching them will cost $28,000. Steve's uncle Gary, who owes $40,000 in gambling debts, proposes rigging the Special Olympics in San Marcos, Texas, to cover both. Steve enters as Jeffy Dahmor, a young man with a developmental disability. Gary bets $100,000 that the reigning champion, Jimmy Washington, will not take gold. At the games Steve meets Lynn, a volunteer, and rooms with Billy, a fellow competitor.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Ringer (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film took seven years to get made due to its controversial subject. The Special Olympics committee eventually agreed to endorse it, the filmmakers having given them final say on the script.
- Professional wrestlers Terry Funk and Jesse Ventura appear in cameos through their friendship with director Barry Blaustein, who met the pair while filming the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat in the late 1990s. Funk portrayed one of the debt collectors, while Ventura lent his voice as a motivational speaker on tape.
- Producer Farrelly is himself a longtime volunteer with Best Buddies, a group that provides mentoring programs for people with intellectual disabilities, and has prominently featured characters with disabilities in previous films, such as Warren in There's Something About Mary and Rocket in Stuck on You.
