The Ref 1994

An unfortunate cat burglar becomes trapped in a fate worse than jail when he takes a bickering couple and their annoying relatives hostage. Before long, they're driving him nuts, and the line between who is whose hostage begins to blur. It's okay I guess. It's a dark comedy that leaves the comedy mostly behind. I find it more irritating than funny for the most parts. There are some pretty good performances in here and the premise is pretty clever but it's not well-written enough to sustain this premise for the length of the film and it keeps adding pointless side plots instead.

Dennis Leary’s monolouge at the end is worth watching this for that alone.

The Ref is a hilarious holiday film that delivers some good laughs but it has trouble finding the right tone. When a burglar takes a married couple hostage on Christmas Eve he gets more than he bargained for as the couple’s dysfunctional family comes to visit. Denis Leary leads the cast, and is joined by Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately the comedy is uneven, as the film doesn’t quite know how dark or silly to take the humor. And as a result, the performances suffer and the story becomes unfocused. But even with its problems, The Ref is entertaining and has some fun moments.

Denis Leary and Kevin Spacey match wits in this ever-so-gently whitewashed holiday staple. Spacey, whose flammable relationship with wife Judy Davis takes center stage in nearly every scene, is at his deadpan, sarcastic best from start to finish, while Leary's brand of comedy is somewhat neutered by the family-friendly nature of the picture. At its root, though, this is a startlingly simple premise that never really evolves into something grand enough to carry a feature-length picture. It's got some good one-liners, a few solid recurring gags, a volatile core concept, but can't manage to make the shift into high gear that would've bumped it to the next level.

Better than I expected. Kind of had a play feel to it later on, because of the small setting and interaction focusing on dialogue and tensions. Very funny at times and some good situations. Some good dialogue. Acted well. I think a 7 is generous.

The film is a lot of fun, if somewhat cheesy (it is a Christmas film after all), but Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey are great as the bickering married couple held hostage by Leary's thief. Surprisingly, Leary's role is largely reactive to the one-liners and banter between the other characters and whilst the supporting characters start to overwhelm the film a little in the second half, there are still some great moments, including a nice turn from Glynis Johns as the overbearing matriarch of the family.

It's not a bad idea, but it's not a good movie, either.