The Ref (1994)

One of my all time favorites.

Just what I expected

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Denis Leary plays Gus, a cat burglar who's foiled in the opening minutes of the movie by a rich mans' alarm / booby trap. Now on the lam, he decides to take a hostage. Unfortunately, his choice of Caroline (Judy Davis) is not a good one, as she and her husband Lloyd (Kevin Spacey) are going through a VERY rough patch, and can never stop sniping at each other for very long. Things aren't going to get any better, and Gus is forced to spend an untenable Christmas Eve pretending to be their marriage counselor and having to deal with Lloyds' dysfunctional family."The Ref" would be an excellent Christmas time viewing choice for people who want to dispense with excess sentiment and more family friendly material. It has an extremely profane script (by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss, based on Weiss's story), delivered to perfection by an incredibly well cast bunch of actors. The dialogue and situations are commanding enough that the time just flies by. The not terribly attractive bunch of characters includes Lloyds' rich & bitchy mother Rose (Glynis Johns), his weakling brother Gary (Adam LeFevre), Gary's abrasive wife Connie (Christine Baranski), and Lloyd and Carolines' troubled son Jesse (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.), a student at a military school.One can't help but sympathize with Gus to some degree; who would actually desire to spend time with this family? Still, even after all the fighting and yelling, we see truths come out and characters becoming more honest with themselves and others. The subplot with the incompetent, moronic officers on the local police force is rather silly. None of the scenes that don't involve the family are as interesting.Leary is ideal for the lead, but it's Spacey and especially Davis who truly shine. Then again, everyone does a fine job. There are a number of recognizable actors throughout the supporting cast; in addition to Johns, LeFevre, and Baranski, there's Raymond J. Barry, Richard Bright, Bill Raymond, Robert Ridgely, J.K. Simmons, John Benjamin Hickey, Arthur J. Nascarella, and Vincent Pastore. Brights' widow, actress Rutanya Alda, has a brief cameo. Simmons plays a slimeball character named Siskel, so named because LaGravenese was getting a little revenge on film critic Siskel, who'd previously dismissed "The Fisher King" that LaGravenese had written. B.D. Wong appears unbilled.Good fun, with a particularly satisfying wrap-up.Eight out of 10.

Now this is a blast from the past, well the early 90's. Back in the days when Leary was a smokin' hot comedian but not much of a movie star and Spacey wasn't that much of a movie star either!. One of those films yous saw in the videoshop amongst the other comedies but never rented because you didn't really know who the actors were, and you'd never heard of the film, maybe that's just me.The plot isn't rocket science but it is genius. Its Christmas and a robber is on the run, so he kidnaps a middle aged married couple, taking them back to their house. Little does the robber know these two lovebirds are having a bit of a marital spat and are at each others throats. To top that the whole family are on the way for Xmas Eve dinner so Leary's robber must try to control the happy couple whilst dealing with a group of nosy pestering family members.It really does sound like the next perfect National Lampoon caper for Chevy Chase, the whole film is very much like 'Christmas Vacation' accept this is more for adults. Its all very obvious really, naturally Leary uses his quickfire motormouth wit to spearhead much of the comedy and cruel attacks against various family members. Spacey's character is soft spoken but with a sharp tongue whilst Davis' character beautifully grows from calm and collected to spiteful rude and loud with her verbal assaults as she slowly gets more drunk.The main attacks fly in the direction of Spacey's mother played in a very stuffy way by the stout Glynis Johns. Of course the old mother character has money so the family normally suck up to her constantly, but this all breaks down slowly as the evening progresses which leads to some very funny moments. You can count on Leary to lose his rag in a monumental fashion with everyone as the heat builds and his window to escape slowly closes. Quite simply the film plays on the common much used comedic factors of our own relations, something that every family in the world can probably relate to. The old mother who is gruff with little tact and heavily controls one son too much. That son being downtrodden weak and always overruled by his wife who clearly wears the pants in the relationship. The other son not liking his brothers wife (his sister-in-law) because she has his brother whipped. The old mother not liking either sons wives and the wives not liking her (the mother-in-law) either. Caught in the middle are the kids who watch with glee as their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents swear and curse at each other.All the characters are very clichéd no doubt, all the usual family stereotypes are drained of every last drop of predictable comedy completely. But it works brilliantly, watching the grown ups verbally abuse each other whilst trying to hold it together for the kids and for Christmas is hilarious. Tiptoeing around delicate issues and then bringing them up deliberately to cause an outburst, it makes you laugh it makes you cringe. Then to add to that you have Leary going nuts trying to keep everything civil whilst trying not to break his cover and trying not get caught by the old bill. The fact Leary acts as the marriage counselor for Spacey and Davis really cranks up the laughs when he verbally jousts against the mother and sister-in-law.This is one of those perfect anti-Christmas flicks that's perfect for Christmas. All the performances are really very good bringing the film to life and making the story so compelling. Its a completely character driven plot with no fancy set pieces or effects or crazy stunts, its all about the dialog. Yeah you know it will have a happy ending and you kinda know how it will pan out as your watching, but its still a dark razor sharp witty pleasure.7/10

I love this movie! I watched it when it first came out and subsequently watch it every holiday. It is the funniest Christmas movie out there in my opinion and no one but Leary could have pulled off Gus. Fantastic! Not for children,due to the swearing, but make this your own Christmas tradition and watch it every year! Fantastic! Every tradition starts somewhere! The acting is just that good that you want to see it repeatedly. I wish they would make another one actually, I think it would do really well if the same actors could reprise their rolls. It surprises me that a lot of people have never even heard of this movie. I lent it out to a coworker and she loved it too. It's certainly a little unknown gem.

This has to be one of them most underrated Christmas movies ever. Just go up to someone and mention it, and watch them say, "What?" "No, MY favorite holiday special is "It's a Wonderful Life." Try not to pity them too noticeably.Denis Leary plays Gus, a burglar who gets interrupted in the process of completing a job in a well-to-do Connecticut suburb, and winds up taking Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey's couple hostage. Not a good idea, as he quickly discovers. They're so busy bickering that they barely acknowledge Gus, and he must come up with creative ways to keep shutting them up. The main obstacles to Gus escaping undetected are 1) the couple's son is due back from military school, 2) the in-laws are due shortly for a guilt-filled dysfunctional Christmas visit, and 3) the local Keystone Kops are attempting to track Gus down. It's 2) which is really the problem, as the couple's family is even more intolerable than the couple themselves.Sample scene: The in-laws are seen eating at a diner shortly before they're due. "Eat up, kids. Heavens knows what we'll get at Aunt Caroline's." This proves to be a wise move indeed. And if you got a kick out of Kevin Spacey hurling the asparagus in "American Beauty," you'll appreciate the scene where he loses it and starts hitting the Christmas tree. ("Excuse me, the 'corpse' still has the floor!") All I can say, that it's good that Gus came along, because the family definitely all had more than a few grievances to air that had long been festering. Though I'm not sure they got every last drop of venom out (maybe a sequel?).