'The Ringer' earns a medal for opening minds

Farrelly brothers Bobby and Peter have given us such monuments to shaky taste and shakier social responsibility as "Dumb and Dumber," "There's Something About Mary" and the staggeringly misguided "Shallow Hal." The next logical move, of course, is to produce one of the year's most flagrantly feel-good movies in "The Ringer." It's the story of one man's quest to fix the Special Olympics by pretending to be mentally challenged and make off with the gold and a large wager.

(Full disclosure time: I have a brother with Down syndrome who has been a Special Olympian for 10 years, and I don't find "retarded" as a pejorative all that funny.)

Fox Searchlight Pictures 'The Ringer' 3 out of 5 stars Director: Barry Blaustein Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox, Katherine Heigl, Jed Rees, Bill Chott Run time: 100 minutes Release date: Dec. 23, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language and some drug references. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'The Ringer'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Steve Barker (amazingly charismatic "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville) takes a promotion that forced him to fire Stavi, a kindly janitor. Steve tries to hire Stavi as a gardener at his apartment complex, where Stavi promptly lops off three of his fingers with a lawnmower. Steve needs money to reattach the fingers. His sleazy uncle Gary (Brian Cox, a pro as always) finds out a local mobster is a fan of Special Olympic track star Jimmy (real-life Texas Special Olympian Leonard Flowers), who has dominated track and field for years. Gary convinces Steve he can beat these guys, and Steve reluctantly goes along with the plan, studying up with viewings of "I Am Sam," "Forrest Gump" and "The Chevy Chase Show." Suddenly, Steve is "Jeffy," who refers to himself in the third person and is encouraged by Gary to "drool more."

Steve finds out fellow Olympians Thomas, Mark and Glen are just regular guys, are fun to be around and, oh yeah, are actual athletes.

Also complicating matters is Special Olympics worker Lynn Sheridan ("Grey's Anatomy's" Katherine Heigl) on whom Steve gets an inconvenient crush.

The Farrelly brothers, who have featured disabled actors in their movies without mocking them, labored over the script for years with Special Olympics executives, who have given the film a ringing endorsement, as has the National Down Syndrome Society.

But the script does feel labored over, the lines sounding approved by committee — which they were. Or maybe it's the directing. The brothers handed the reins to second-time director Barry Blaustein, and one can't help thinking the Farrellys' razor-sharp eye could have made the material snap still harder.

Knoxville's acting isn't getting any better, but he's still an inherent charmer and, as we know from "Jackass," can take a pratfall with the best of them. But it's fantastic to see two men with Down, athlete Eddie Barbanell and John Taylor, a veteran actor who appeared in "The Seventh Sign," with smaller roles. They could have handled bigger parts. Only Glen (Jed Reese) has lines that required drum-tight comic timing.

"The Ringer's" goal was to alter perceptions about people with mental disabilities. In one crucial way, the lead is brilliantly cast: If someone as cool as Johnny Knoxville enjoys spending time with mentally challenged people without pity, mockery or condescension, there's no reason the viewer can't.