Review of The Ref (1994) by Damon S — 27 Jul 2004

Gus (dennis leary) is a theif who is being hunted down in a small, rich area of connecticut on christmas eve. when he takes lloyd (kevin spacey) and caroline (judy davis) hostage to get off the streets. little does he know that they have a mountain of issues between them, and they have family coming over. while gus waits on his partner, murray, to find a boat to get them out of there and off to jamaica, he's stuck there pretending to be lloyd and caroline's marriage counselor.

After watching [b][i]city of god[/i][/b], I figured I needed something light to watch, so I picked [b][i]the ref[/i][/b], a great comedy. this is one christmas movie that many people seem to forget, but they shouldn't. is so darkly funny, like [b][i]bad santa[/i][/b], that it gives the holiday comedy genre a good spin. it has three wonderful actors as its core cast. kevin spacey and judy davis are always dead on, and how can you go wrong with dennis leary. his delivery is just halairious. there is also christine baranski playing the role of connie, and she is awesome in this movie. she has great lines and plays the perfect nagging wife/mother. it's nice to have a movie that has the "warm christmas spirit", without all the sappiness that it normally entails. there's nothing really technical about this movie that makes it good, it's shot just like a regular comedy. but the dark humor that was written is what makes this movie as great as it is.

[i]"you know what i'm gonna get you next year for christmas, mom? a big wooden cross, so that everytime you feel unappreciated for your sacrifices, you can climb on up and nail yourself to it."[/i].