Review | The Ref (1994)

Above photo from justwatch.com

The Ref is a movie I remember seeing on video store shelves from the mid ’90s onward. I can even remember seeing commercials for it on TV, but for some reason I just had never taken the time to watch it. Over the years, I had been reading good reviews for it and my curiosity just kept growing, so when I found a DVD copy for $2 this past July, I bought it without even thinking twice.

Side note: The DVD contains the French-dubbed version, titled “Drôles d’Otages”, which translates to: “Funny Hostages”. Also, pet peeve: While the movie is presented in widescreen, it’s non-anamorphic, which means you find yourself with a black border all around your TV screen.

Seeing how it’s a “Christmas movie” (I’ll explain the quotation marks shortly), I didn’t really feel like watching it when I first bought it in July, but now that it’s mid-December, I figured there’s no better time to watch it.

While advertised as a Christmas movie, when you watch it you quickly begin to realize that it’s actually an anti-Christmas movie. So ANTI, in fact, that they released it in March of 1994. That’s a bold move, because I don’t know how many people would go see a movie that takes place at Christmas time in MARCH, but the movie grossed just a bit above its $11,000,000 budget, so people still went to see it.

Let’s look at the plot of the film, shall we?

After some soft opening credits accompanied to Christmas music as we see shots of a beautifully decorated town, we are taken to a couples counselling session on Christmas Eve where we’re introduced to Caroline and Lloyd Chasseur (Judy Davis & Kevin Spacey). During this session with their counsellor Dr. Wong (played by an actor whose name is actually BD Wong), it is quickly made obvious that there is A LOT of friction between the couple, and much of that friction is caused by Caroline’s infidelity. She has had an affair in the past, something that Lloyd has never forgiven her for.

But this couple fights about EVERYTHING! Seriously, if you’re worried about your current romantic situation, watch The Ref, and it’ll probably make you realize that your small arguments are nothing compared to the constant fighting of these two.

We take a break from their bickering to find a burglar named Gus (Denis Leary) attempting to rob a fancy mansion. While breaking into a safe, he sets off the loudest of all security systems, gets soaked by a trap that sprays cat urine, and has to outrun a scary guard dog. Gus makes it out, but unfortunately his getaway driver left without him, being frightened by the alarm.

We now go back to the Chasseurs as they make their way home after their session, as they’re expecting Lloyd’s brother’s family for dinner. On the way home, they stop at a store where Caroline needs to run an errand. Gus just happens to enter the same store, sees Caroline, and quietly puts a gun to her back and tells her to come outside with him. You can already tell that this is not your typical Christmas movie.

Gus and Caroline get back to Lloyd at the car, and at gunpoint Gus tells them to drive. The town is crawling with police officers at this point, who just happen to be looking for Gus (his face was captured by a security camera during the attempted robbery). Hearing on the radio that there’s a road block up ahead, Lloyd takes a shortcut, and Gus asks that they take him to their home. However, during this drive, Caroline and Lloyd’s constant fighting is already giving Gus a headache and he’s wondering what he’s gotten himself into. He constantly has to interfere and act like a referee, hence the title of the film: The Ref.

“Great, I hijacked my fucking parents.” -Gus

Now that the important introductions are out of the way, I’ll summarize the rest as to not give away EVERY single detail. Once at the house, after tying up Caroline and Lloyd, the trio realize that the guests they’re expecting will arrive for dinner any minute, and seeing how their car is outside and the lights are on, they are going to suspect that someone’s home.

The solution they come up with is to dress up / clean up Gus (remember, he smells like cat urine, a running joke in the film), and introduce him as their therapist, Dr. Wong.

So when the relatives (accompanied by Lloyd’s snobby mother) arrive, they have a very awkward surprise in the form of Dr. Wong… A white man.

Caroline and Lloyd need to make sure that all goes smoothly and that nobody upsets their kidnapper, who’s scheduled to be picked up at 10p.m. by the getaway driver that got away.

See, up until the guests arrive for dinner, which is about halfway through the movie, I was enjoying it and was wondering where it was going to go, but once the guests arrive, there’s no real change in tone. It’s just yelling and arguing non-stop for the WHOLE movie. I was okay with it at first, thinking it was going to shift, but it really doesn’t. In fact, when it was over, I felt like I needed to watch something happier just to bring my spirits back up, but it was 11:30 at night at this point and I had to go to bed.

Don’t get me wrong, many jokes had me laughing out loud, and I loved Denis Leary’s portrayal of Gus, it’s just that I thought there would eventually be character growth, like for instance: while eating Christmas dinner with the Chasseurs and their relatives, Gus would realize that the family life was what he’s been missing this whole time, and he ends up having a change of heart.

But no, it’s just arguing and yelling ALL the way through, with no real character growth to speak of, and no real likeable characters. Lloyd’s mother Rose (Glynis Johns) and sister-in-law Connie (Christine Baranski) are particularly detestable. Again, I loved Leary’s performance, but that doesn’t mean that his character was likeable.

I need to remember that this is a DARK comedy, and not your typical, predictable Christmas comedy. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be THAT dark, and would have settled for a mixture of both those categories.

I still recommend giving it a watch if you haven’t seen it, and be sure to let me know which quotes had you laughing.

Happy Holidays everyone!

FINAL SCORE: 2.5/5

The Ref (1994)
Directed by: Ted Demme
Written by: Marie Weiss and Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., Glynis Johns and Raymond J. Barry

TEASER TRAILER:

THEATRICAL TRAILER: