Login
The Ref was released by Buena Vista, but it's not exactly the type of Christmastime entertainment that one would expect from Disney. By no means family-friendly, The Ref is a dark, mean-spirited, cynical and viciously funny black comedy that doesn't aspire to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's hardly surprising, then, that the distributors were nervous about a Christmas release timeslot, and instead shipped The Ref to theatres the following March. Darkly funny, the film works beautifully thanks to Ted Demme's well-judged direction and the top-notch screenplay by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss.
A married couple undergoing counselling, Lloyd (Spacey) and Caroline (Davis) fight and bicker on a constant basis, making divorce an inevitability. It's Christmas Eve and gloom lies ahead for the pair, who will soon be welcoming their highly dysfunctional family. Elsewhere, a high-tech thief named Gus (Leary) is on the run from local police after a failed attempt to rob an affluent mansion. Roadblocks are being set up to find Gus, so he takes hostages in a panic - and, unfortunately, he chooses Caroline and Lloyd on a whim. Bad choice. Although one might suspect that Gus would be in control since he has a gun, Gus soon finds himself in an intolerable situation as the couple fiercely argue into the night. With Lloyd and Caroline's son (Steinmiller) and their crazy relatives on their way, Gus is in for one hell of a Christmas Eve...
A morally reprehensible comedy inhabited by unlikeable people, The Ref is an effective antidote to all of those saccharine-coated Christmas-themed family films we've been subjected to for so long (most of which, ironically, were released by the film's own distributor: Disney). In the vein of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the movie explores all of those tensions between families that normally remain hidden. Furthermore, it takes a few satirical jabs at the typical, worthless presents that families often get for one another that everyone actually despises (socks, sweaters, etc). And while The Ref is not necessarily a mature examination of the difficulties of marriage, the brilliant script does hilariously highlight the ridiculousness of some couples who launch into a full-blown argument over the smallest things. Although the script momentarily slips from the misanthropic to the sentimental as the final act kicks in, the tonal change feels somewhat earned and the dark tone is never relinquished, leading to a satisfyingly unconventional climax.
Dialogue is definitely this pic's biggest asset. Bursting with razor-sharp, constantly hilarious and at times incisive dialogue, The Ref is an absolute beauty which constantly maintains interest as the actors attack their witty lines with delightful relish. Late director Ted Demme (nephew of Oscar-nominated director Jonathan Demme) learned the filmmaking ropes at MTV, but here he refused to embrace the flashy mannerisms of most video directors. Thus, The Ref is welcomely free of gimmicky filmmaking, permitting the actors to go nuts without their performances being diminished by unnecessary visual flourishes. The Ref's only problem is a structural issue: the stuff which occurs outside of Lloyd and Caroline's household only occasionally works. While it's often amusing to witness the incompetence of the bumbling police officers, other material is less successful (the local police chief has his own subplot that ultimately leads nowhere). And granted, the high level of wit is not always sustained, but the script has far more hits than misses.
The Ref boasts a truly marvellous cast. Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis are spot-on as Lloyd and Caroline, spouting their side-splitting dialogue with terrific abandon. The verbal sparring between the two also possesses a nasty edge - these guys don't just fight cute; they ferociously battle with tongues sharp enough to slice through someone's fucking jugular. Equally funny is Dennis Leary, who managed to make his role of Gus both menacing and oddly likeable. Leary is an established comedian, so he was right at home here. Whether the one-liners were improvised or in the script, Leary is frequently hilarious. Then there's Glynis Johns as Lloyd's monster of a mother, and the always-eccentric Christine Baranski who steals the spotlight from time to time as Lloyd's sister-in-law.
From its perfect cast to its uproarious screenplay to scenes with It's a Wonderful Life playing on the television, The Ref has all the right trappings to become a genuine Christmas classic. The movie failed to do much business during its theatrical run, but on home video it has amassed a strong cult following, and for good reason. In fact it's a great companion piece to 2003's Bad Santa, and those with a disdain for the festive season should watch the two flicks back-to-back.
8.5/10
