The Ref
The Ref (Hostile Hostages in some countries) is a 1994 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Ted Demme, written by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss, and starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis, and Kevin Spacey. The plot centers on a burglar who, while evading capture from the police, is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve. The burglar finds himself having to act as a de facto marriage counselor, or "referee", between the squabbling husband and wife, a situation that becomes more complicated when the husband's relatives drop by for Christmas dinner.
Plot
On Christmas Eve in an affluent Connecticut hamlet, Lloyd and Caroline Chasseur are in a marriage counseling session with therapist Dr. Wong. Caroline has had an affair, and Lloyd is miserable and blames the behavioral problems of their 15-year-old son Jesse on his wife's coddling of him. Caroline, meanwhile, calls out Lloyd for his inability to stand up to his domineering mother, Rose.
More details
| author | Richard LaGravenese |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Connecticut |
| director | Ted Demme |
| editor | Jeffrey Wolf |
| events | dysfunctional family |
| genre | comedy crime |
| keywords | behavioral problem bicker burglary cat burglar change of heart christmas eve commanding officer convenience store couples therapy domineering mother eat even family dinner fight force gag getaway car guard dog held hostage hidden money hide out knock out life of crime make up marriage counseling military school police chief police search run away santa claus set up state police steal tie up upbringing wait |
| musicBy | David A. Stewart |
| producer | Jeffrey Weiss Richard LaGravenese Ron Bozman |
| productionCompany | Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films Touchstone Pictures |
| publisher | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| recordedAt | Ontario |
| theme | black comedy crime comedy |