The Ref
1994VOTE NOW
| Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: March 11, 1994 |
Starring:
Adam LeFevre, Christine Baranski, Denis Leary, Glynis Johns, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Phillip Nicoll, Raymond J. Barry, Richard Bright, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.
Summary:
A cat burglar is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve.
An ascerbic swipe at family counseling, holiday dinners, small-town mores and baby-boomer marriages, ``The Ref'' is acted and written with such pleasure that its meanness becomes cleansing, a stripping-away of the sentimentality that suffocates most Hollywood films about families. [11 Mar 1994, p.AE15]
More outrageousness, less sentimentality and eagerness to please would have been welcome. But while The Ref isn't falling-out-of-your-seat funny, it uncorks a steady supply of laughs. It's a throwback to those Disney movies of the '80s that used to star Bette Midler. And it strikes a blow against forced holiday jollity. [11 Mar 1994, p.67]
All of Demme's headliners are quite adequate, with Davis - a wonderful comedienne as well as a dramatic actress of stature - emerging as the film's principal delight. They make The Ref a briskly enjoyable affair that would have been even better if it had retained more of its diabolical edge. [18 Mar 1994, p.L24]
A loud, abrasive comedy that squanders the talents of its three stars, The Ref is the sort of project that stands or falls on its writing - it needs to be deep and deliciously dark. But as scripted by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss (he penned The Fisher King, this is her first produced screenplay) and directed by Ted Demme (Jonathan's nephew, making his feature film debut), all we get is superficial rage. [11 Mar 1994, p.03]
Director Ted Demme (Jonathan's nephew, Who's the Man?) guides this predictable action with a leaden hand. It's as if he, like everyone else in The Ref, is holding back, awaiting Leary's next inspired, caustic riff. That's a lot of pressure for a cult-level comic in his first lead role. He doesn't always measure up. [11 Mar 1994, p.8]
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