12 Days of Christmas 2015: The Ref

The Ref (1994)
Starring: Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis
Directed by: Ted Demme


One of the holiday specials I was really looking forward to watching was The Ref. I love Denis Leary. I love Kevin Spacey. I had heard a lot of friends talk a great deal about watching it every Christmas. It seemed like a pretty easy connection to make. Then my wife and I sat down with some pizza to watch the film and were expecting to laugh throughout. That's not what we had, at first. We open with a first act that was grounded in reality, with a bit of levity thrown in. We really didn't get to the major laughs until the final act, but when it picked up, it REALLY picked up. Watching the film with the wife really helped, as we got a chuckle out of seeing the concept of a burglar abducting a bickering married couple, making HIM feel like a prisoner in their home. The fact that he grows fond of them enough to try and help them was also pretty funny. Then you throw in possibly one of the most awkward dinner scenes ever put to film, and the movie really won me over. Would I watch it every Christmas? I don't think I could call it a tradition yet, but I would definitely have no issues watching it if it's on during the holidays. With that in mind, let's see why The Ref has been considered a modern holiday comedy classic.

Denis Leary stars as Gus, a cranky burglar who chose the absolute worst family in the world to kidnap. This of course makes him very annoyed with his victims, and watching him try to contain his anger absolutely works. That's Denis Leary's attitude in a nutshell. If you make him upset, he's going to go ballistic and there will be cuss words and insults spewing everywhere. His reactions work as a great representation of the audience, as he's helped unlock a gateway to this crazy, dysfunctional family. And he says exactly what we've been thinking the entire film: SHUT UP!

The married couple we want to desperately shut up is Lloyd and Caroline Chasseur, played by Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis. If you've ever had problems during the holidays with a significant other, you'll be thankful that you aren't Lloyd and Caroline. BOTH have a laundry list of problems that they hash out at the other. BOTH are in the wrong. BOTH have some merit to their arguments. It's just a bad situation from the beginning. If you were Denis Leary, YOU'D feel the need to play ref as well.

The last thing I'll bring up about The Ref that really stands out among the Christmas movies is its ties to the Christmas story of Santa Lucia. Santa Lucia is a story and tradition that played a big part in the holidays during my time attending a Christian university. When this story was brought up in the film, I got a really big kick out of it. When I saw how it tied in to possibly the worst and most awkward family dinner scene in a Christmas movie, I got an even bigger laugh. The scene adds fuel to a temper filled and hilarious final act that needs to be seen to be believed. The amount of times my jaw dropped at how many harsh truths were dropped by this dysfunctional family during the holidays is something that can really make you appreciate that (hopefully) your family isn't this bad during Christmastime.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

If your holidays are full of dysfunctional family moments and awkward conversations (you know, like how holidays ACTUALLY are), chances are you'll really enjoy The Ref. The performances from the main three actors work so well and the family dynamic is so bizarre that it's one of the most enjoyable bickering families of the holiday season.

The Ref and movie images are copyrighted by Touchstone Pictures