Cady's Take:

Lloyd harps on her extramarital affair, while Caroline elaborately belittles his virility. Unable to shut them up by force, Gus takes the role of mediator, trying to talk them into settling their differences. Leary is great at delivering one-liners, and Davis and Spacey play the bickering couple so well that these hateful characters end up being people we actually care about.

Matters become increasingly complicated due to visits to the home by the cops on a manhunt, the Chasseur's son Jesse, a drunken neighbor in a Santa suit and a carload of Lloyd’s relatives. Lloyd's family knows the couple has been going to a marriage counselor, so it's agreed that Gus will pretend to be the counselor so that the kidnapper can continue right through the Christmas Eve gathering. The young visiting nephew quickly assesses, to his horror, that the television seems to be broken, and whines incredulously to his mother, “What are we supposed to do?” she snaps: “Celebrate the birth of Christ!”

The exchanges between Davis and Spacey make "The War of the Roses" seem like "It's a Wonderful Life". Sit back and enjoy the volleys of scathing insults and sarcasm - This is laugh out loud comedy!

“The Ref” is a smart and articulate comedy. “The Ref” stars Dennis Leary and Kevin Spacey. “The Ref” was directed by Ted Demme. Sounds good to me – sign me up.

Dennis Leary is Gus, a criminal who kidnaps the wrong couple, Caroline and Lloyd (Spacey and Judy Davis). A married couple that majors in fighting, Gus and his robbery attempt go almost unnoticed at times by the bickering pair. Spacey’s timing is terrific and he shows off his less introspective and more energetic side by making Lloyd loud and bitter, no doormat to his shrewish wife Caroline.

Gus becomes the hostage to the dysfunctional couple’s constant battle of wills. When their son comes home for the holidays, he is not scared, but in awe of the crook who is holding up his parents. The kid is a product of his environment, and the movie does not cheat by making him overly sympathetic – this boy is a blackmailing troublemaker.

As Gus holds them hostage, Caroline and Lloyd must prepare for their relatives who are coming over for Christmas. Gus appears at the family gathering as their marriage counselor, which provides some of the funniest dialogue in the movie. This is a fun, offbeat holiday picture that anyone with a nutty family member or two will enjoy.