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I have another review, and recommendation if you haven’t seen it, to share with the Post Geek Singularity. This is for a 1994 comedy called The Ref, starring Denis Leary and Kevin Spacey, but also having appearances from those like Christine Baranski and J.K Simmons.
This review would have definitely been better suited leading up to Christmas, since the film takes place on Christmas Eve, but I did not see it for the first time until recently, even though I said to myself I would see it for a long time.
I made a big mistake in waiting because I think this movie is quite good. It was fresh and funny, with all the comedy coming from the banter and bickering between all the characters. All the acting performances are great, as it seemed all of them were really adept to comedy.
The only issue I really had with the film was the ending, as I found it to be a little rushed and underwhelming. However, I found out the original conclusion of the film did not test well with screening audiences, so the film’s ending was changed into what we have now. The director has since regretted creating a new ending.
Overall, The Ref is a fun movie to watch, and I would recommend it to those who have not seen it, as I think you will have a good time watching it.
Thanks, live long and prosper.
Interesting Facts About the Movie (from IMDb and Wikipedia)
Richard LaGravenese co-wrote the film with his sister-in-law Marie Weiss. It was inspired by their families.
For example, the dinner scene: “Both Marie and I are Italian Catholics who married into Jewish families, so we do have those big holiday dinners,” LaGravenese said. Weiss began writing the script in 1989 after she and her husband moved from New York to California. Inspiration came from an argument she had with him and she thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if there were a third party to step in and referee?”
She wrote several drafts and consulted with LaGravenese in 1991 and they took it to Disney. The studio approved the project within 20 minutes. LaGravenese spent a year revising the script until he finally got “tired of doing rewrites for executives.”
After Ted Demme directed comedian Denis Leary in No Cure for Cancer, a stand-up comedy special for Showtime, they got the script for The Ref and decided to do it.
The studio cast Leary based on the sarcastic funny man persona he cultivated in MTV spots that Demme directed. Leary joined the project as part of a three picture deal with Disney.
Their involvement motivated LaGravenese to come back to the project. Executive producer Don Simpson described the overall tone of The Ref as “biting and sarcastic. Just my nature.”
This film marked the debut of J.K. Simmons (who would go on to win an Academy Award for Whiplash in 2015).
The original ending had Denis Leary being caught by the cops to show the son that a life of crime leads nowhere. However, after screening the movie to a test audience and receiving negative comments about the ending, director Ted Demme changed it. He now admits he regrets changing it.
dear rob
recently i had just watched a 1994 Dennis leary Comedy called The Ref
which also stars kevin spacey
the following comments Below are My take on roger ebert’s review of the film
meaning, the actual review is on roger ebert’s site, which i am quoting
But i am interjecting in between parts my take on the film
please Note: this may be a Long letter due to quoting the review with a lot of my own reaction to the film inbetween
The Ref is a Modern adaptation of O henry’s the ransom of red chief
in which a kidnapper tends to take hostage more than he was counting on
denis leary plays Gus, a Jewel Thief who sets off an alarm in a private House in a affluent conneticut neighborhood
ok first off, we both know that denis leary is a rather funny actor
before this film, he was in films like: strictly buisness as jake, Loaded weapon 1 as mike mckracken,
the sandlot as Bill, sgt cooper in the film, who’s the man, armor o’malley in Gunmen, edgar friendly in the film, demolition man, then the previous film Before he did the Ref, was when he played Fallon in the film, Judgement Night
but before i go back to the explaination of the Ref, rob, i have to say
there is a ton of scenes in this film that you would get laughs from
at one point in the early part of the film, i think kevin spacey’s character along with the judy davis character, caroline are sitting at a therapy session with their therapist
and that spacey’s character lloyd starts arguing with caroline like it was out of a boyfriend-girlfriend arguement , and to be fair, some of the things spacey says to caroline is just really amusing
and i got a laugh from it
ok back to the explain of the film:
in desperation, gus Kidnaps a married couple during christmas eve, and asks them to drive to their home
once he’s there, he assumes that he has time for him to plan his next move, But he doesnt get peace and quiet, because the couple he kidnaps, lloyd and caroline , have been arguing for years
and are constantly at each other’s throats ,incapable of surrendering in a arguement
ok heres my next point:
there are couples in other movies that have a better time Negociating peacefully
spacey and davis arent as convincing
Now, if this film had been just as razor toned like the coen brothers films raising arizona and Millers crossing then not only would there at least be couples that you’d sympathize and also have bank robbers that youd have a positive moral standing too
and both raising arizona and millers crossing is a good example of films that could deliver a terrific story if you mix both comedy and drama
but continuing on with the explaination of the film:
the couple, caroline and lloyd, Played by Judy davis and kevin spacey, are both smart and bitter at the same time, and Boy can they fight
gus is almost forgotten at times and he can’t get the floor, yet he tries to explain to caroline and lloyd: people with guns do whatever they want
which my thought was, gus should have been a little more reasonable to these people
Sure he does cuss at times, and lloyd does cuss at times
But you do get laughs because you do feel empathy for these characters
because they are in a pretty weird, messed up situation
married people without guns, do yell in a arguement in the film
But whats weird in a way, is that denis leary’s character Gus says to the couple “married people with no guns dont get to yell, simple quiz”
but that doesnt stop lloyd and caroline for a second, after Gus tries to find rope for lloyd and caroline, lloyd tells him use bungee cords, so he goes find bungee cords in the kitchen
this sets off Lloyd, who believes caroline has a crush on gus
and she explains she was frightened and says “humans get frightened cause they have feelings”
the situation grows More desperate when their son comes home from military school
the kid has made Piles of Money because he has conned his military school teacher named siskel played by Jk simmons
(no relation to the film critic gene siskel for those of you pgs’ers at home trying to figure all of these characters in this film out)
anyways, so the kid named Jesse is impressed By gus, and basically welcomes him, as if he’s like a uncle to him, and it welcomes some excitement in his home and his life, despite all of the troubling turmoil from the relatives that come visit that act disrespectful and are irresponsible to caroline and lloyd , and that all of Lloyd’s relatives come for holiday supper, But he apparently has trouble coming to terms with talking not only with caroline but his realitives as well
at some point this Long drawn out Process, the relationship between gus and the people he has taken hostage subtly shifts all of a sudden, instead of him being a kidnapper he becomes a peacemaker
gus tries to enforce that people are calm and silent, truces and agreements amongst one another
Lloyd and caroline start to cooperate with gus, maybe because they are afraid of his gun and want him to try to reason with people, its More than likely that the situation they are in takes on a logic of its own, meaning, gus is not going to shoot them, he’s being the Peacemaker here
Lloyd and Caroline Know that they have been seeing a marriage counselor , so they agree that gus acts like their marriage counselor as sort of a peacemaker, so that the kidnapping going on in the house can go on through christmas eve gatherings
before i continue this long drawn out review of the ref:
i’d like to say
Happy 600th ,rob
and i really enjoyed the interview of John campea
he had some rather interesting things to say about how he started his channel
and his move trailers documentary and that there are things he said about how people enjoy different movie genres
great material in the film is just as great as the writting and the acting
the ref is skillful of this in Both areas
Denis leary, the main star of the film, has a tendency, like many stand up comics, to shout a lot
so it helps to make valid overall engaging points with overkill (and man, does it really come off hilarious)
here he creates a entertaining character that the audience enjoys
while with the characters Lloyd and caroline played by kevin spacey and judy davis, are both verbal
but they devlop counterpoints that seem at times to the viewer manic
that elevates it to a art form
there are tons of supporting characters in this movie:
lloyd’s relatives , who have their own problems
the local police and the state police
gus’s rummy-dummy partner
the drunken neighbor dressed as santa claus
and of course, Siskel (played by J.K Simmons) the teacher from the military school, in which the kid ,jessie, is trying to put a fast one on him because he photographed him consorting with Dancers
would you believe that the kid obviously wanted to also try to help gus solve lloyd and caroline’s issues with their marriage
when i was listening to the film i was quite amazed at how the kid acted
he had the attitude of a Normal middle school or High school student
the director, Ted demme, along with Producers don simpson and jerry bruckheimer, tend to juggle all of these people in the film skillfully
and even though that we know where this film is going (the ref really isnt a bad guy after all) and this film isn’t bad either
its a fun movie to see
this film had got me laughing when denis leary and kevin spacey
had got into arguements in random scenes
but then other moments where judy davis argued with kevin spacey
the humor in the film is played out for laughs
final thoughts on the film:
this is a fun comedy
highly reccomendable
my question for you ,rob:
what is Your favorite 1990s comedy
anyways, thanks for reading my letter
and Happy 600th
sincerely
Aaron Johnson