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Summary: One of the funniest films ever made.
Review: Buy this film. Next X-Mas, when Aunt June wants to play her DVD of "It's a Wonderful Life" (a secret plot by the Devil to increase the Holiday suicide rate), tell her to play this movie instead. The story is great, the acting is superb and the dialog is priceless. Plus it is hilarious. This is one of the best comedys ever made and is a brutally honest portrayal of how some people really celebrate the X-Mas holiday (not tied up to a chair but trapped in a house full of people they would not pour water on if they were on fire).
Rating: 
Summary: You'll love this movie if...
Review: If your idea of a good time is revisiting the most bitter and petty fights you've ever had with your husband or wife over and over again with the extra-added-bonus of a third person ("the ref") repeatedly interupting with helpful advice like "shut up you morons" - you will just love this movie.
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Summary: About time!
Review: It's about time it came out on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: ONE-LINERS GALORE
Review: The most under-rated comedy I've ever seen. Full of one-liners. It's one of those movies that gets better every time I watch it. Should have become a classic...guess only bad marketing can ruin a good movie.
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Summary: Is it real coffee...or some Scandinavian Christmas potion
Review: Did you like Home Alone, or perhaps National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, or maybe Home For The Holidays? Well...rewind those tapes and put them back in your closet. There is only one thing funnier than a dysfunctional family...a dysfunctional family at Christmas!! And it doesn't get much better than this one. This movie is a riot! The Christmas dinner scenes alone are worth the watch. Great cast...Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Christine Baranski, and Glynis Johns (any baby boomers out there remember Lady Penelope Peasoup from the 1966 Batman series?). The writing is clever and quick-witted in this movie, the lines, the quips...just watch it. You won't regret it! Glad to see it FINALLY become available on DVD.
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Summary: A Real Comic Gem
Review: The Ref is a dazzling comedy of words, with sterling performances by Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey, who have fantastic "chemistry" of a couple who have bickered so long they seem to loathe each other. It is a pleasure to watch two great actors play well-written, surprisingly complex comic roles. Dennis Leary is perfectly cast as the harrassed burglar who finds himself trapped in an upper crust New England town and forced into hiding in a role that evolves into gun-toting marriage counselor to Spacey and Davis. I have watched several other of his films since catching The Ref, and none comes close to using Leary's comic delivery style so effectively. The chemistry among Davis, Spacey and Leary is pitch perfect. Glynis Johns gives a memorably wicked performance as the "mother-in-law from hell" -- a character so self-centered and cruel, she gives Hitchcock's series of awful mothers and mothers-in-law a run for their money. An added bonus is Christine Baranski as an uptight mother of two brats in over her head in the emotional battle royale that takes place among Davis, Spacey, Leary & Johns during Christmas dinner and during the opening of presents. Further complicating the mix is Spacey and Davis' crooked and self-pitying son, home from military school (where he is a master blackmailer) in a town that suspects him of every petty crime (including stealing Baby Jesus from the town Nativity), who wants to join up with Leary's world-weary thief. The language in this film is coarse, to say the least, but it fits the characters and situations. The opening half of the film is hysterically funny, and that's before Johns, Baranski et al make their ill-fated appearance. This is an adult comedy -- no gross out jokes, no flatulence humor and only a few off-key physical jokes involving the local Santa. Just great writing, great comic timing and great cast chemistry. The Ref is truly an overlooked comic gem that anyone (who does not object to a liberal dose of four letter words) who has watched the petty arguments of married couples, the strained drudgery of family Christmas get-togethers and the subtly poisonous relationships with in-laws, will love.
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Summary: Christmas Cheers
Review: Forget "Christmas Vacation" and "Home for the Holidays", they're distant runnersup for the funniest holiday movie ever made. If you have a dysfunctional family (and who doesn't?) then "The Ref" will be a painfully funny experience. Dennis Leary hits a homerun with his portrayal of a street-wise burglar who stumbles into a Christmas from hell. Kevin Spacey brings all of his talents for comedy tinged with insight to his character and Judy Davis is his equal as his wife. Throw in a mother-in-law from your worst nightmare, a teenage son who "has talents the Mafia gives scholarships for", a belligerently drunken Santa Claus, a crew of inept local police and you've got the makings of an unrivaled classic.
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Summary: The unbeatable combo of Denis Leary and Kevin Spacey
Review: The best sleeper ever! Buy it, and play it on Christmas day with your family...I did!
I believe this to be the best Christmas movie ever. Denis Leary is funny as hell, Kevin Spacey is just BRILLIANT, as is Judy Davis.
Buy this DVD and add it to your collection while you can!
Rating:
Summary: The funniest Christmas film ever
Review: This movie is absolutely hysterical, and it gets funnier every time you see it.
If you've never seen the film, The Ref is about a burgler (Dennis Leary) who gets trapped with an incredibly dysfunctional family on Christmas Eve. He first takes a married couple hostage, only to find that they are on the brink of divorce and so busy bickering with each other that they have little time to spare to be threatened by him. He is waiting for a phone call from his partner and cannot leave until he gets it; meanwhile, the rest of the Chasseur family is due to arrive at any moment to celebrate the holiday. What follows is probably some of the funniest dialogue in movie history, as the frankly loathsome mother-in-law (Leary tells her, "I've met loan sharks more forgiving than you') and the rest of the family arrive and Leary has to pretend to be the couple's marriage therapist.
This is a must-see movie, especially for the holidays. Quick, witty dialogue and excellent performances make this a stand-out. Although I found the subplot involving the son to be a little dull, the rest of the film more than makes up for it. As I said, every time you see this film there is more to enjoy.
My husband and I still quote this one incessantly.
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Summary: I'm Addicted to The Ref!
Review: I can't stop watching it. I'm addicted. My favorite part is when George dresses as Santa and gets too drunk: "Yeah!, maybe Santa won't come cruise to Jamaica, and you can eat your own lousy cooking!" I'm addicted to this movie, 'nuff said!
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