{{infobox film | name | The Ref |
| image Ref ver1.jpg
| caption
| director Ted Demme
| producer Don SimpsonJerry Bruckheimer
| writer Richard LaGraveneseMarie Weiss
| starring Denis LearyJudy DavisKevin Spacey
| cinematography Adam Kimmel
| music David A. Stewart
| editing Jeffrey Wolf
| distributor Touchstone Pictures
| released March 9, 1994
| runtime 93 min
| language English
| budget $11,000,000 (U.S.)
| gross $20,150,000 (U.S.)
}} |
---|
The Ref (Hostile Hostages in some countries) is a 1994 black comedy film directed by Ted Demme and starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey.
While Caroline is in the market, Gus spots her and, holding a gun to her back, orders her to take him to her car. He then proceeds to order both her and Lloyd to take him to their house. Along the way the couple continues to argue, with Gus beginning to act as a referee to make them shut up, all the while regretting his decision to kidnap the two.
Back at the house things continue to get worse as the police have set up roadblocks and there is a reward out for Gus. Lloyd and Caroline continue to argue, their neighbor dressed as Santa stops by, and two police officers go door to door looking for Gus. Gus manages to contact Murray, who is at local bar, and orders him to steal them a boat. Soon, Jesse comes home and discovers his parents tied up, and is himself tied up. After breaking loose of his own restraints, he makes a failed attempt at making Gus release his parents.
Lloyd’s family, consisting of Lloyd’s brother Gary, his wife Connie, their two children Mary and John, and Lloyd’s mother Rose, are introduced into the story. Rose is extremely wealthy and is a cold, callous, and arrogant woman. Gus, seeing no other option, decides to pretend to be Lloyd’s and Caroline’s marriage counselor as he cannot hold everyone hostage. Jesse, however, is tied up and gagged upstairs in his parent’s closet.
Things come to head when Caroline and Lloyd are unable to stop fighting. Gus's pointed comments goad the family on to many realizations, leading Lloyd to finally get up the guts to stand up to his wife and his mother. Everyone finds out who Gus really is after the doorbell rings and Rose attempts to go upstairs; Gus stops her by pointing a gun at her head and ordering everyone to the den. The man at the door is Jesse’s commander from military school, whom Jesse has been blackmailing, as he explains to Jesse's parents.
Jesse has managed to untie himself and is discovered with his hidden money; when the doorbell rings again his mom tells him to stay there. When Lloyd, Caroline, and Gus get back downstairs, the neighbor from earlier has entered their house and is very drunk and lunges at Gus, who knocks him out.
The state police arrive, and Lloyd tells Jesse to take Gus to the docks using the path through the woods. Gus steals the Santa suit and makes it safely to the docks and escapes. Back at home the couple have managed to get the police out of their home with their bickering and then, having worked through all of their differences throughout the evening with Gus's assistance, they make up and decide to stay together.
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. Their involvement motivated LaGravenese to come back to the project. The film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, known mostly for their big budget action films during the 1980s. Simpson described the overall tone of The Ref as "biting and sarcastic. Just my nature".
After test audiences responded poorly to the film's original ending - where Gus turns himself in - a new ending was shot in January 1994.
Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "material like this is only as good as the acting and writing. The Ref is skillful in both areas". Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers praised the performances of Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis: "They are combustibly funny, finding nuance even in nonsense. The script is crass; the actors never". In her review for The New York Times, Caryn James praised Leary's performance: "For the first time he displays his appeal and potential as an actor instead of a comic with a sneering persona". However, Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C-" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "The Ref is crushingly blunt-witted and monotonous in its celebration of domestic sadism". In his review for the Washington Post, Hal Hinson criticized Leary's performance: "A stand-up comic trying to translate his impatient, hipster editorializing to the big screen, he doesn't have the modulation of a trained actor, only one speed (fast) and one mode of attack (loud)".
Category:1994 films Category:American black comedy films Category:American criminal comedy films Category:1990s comedy films Category:Christmas films Category:Films directed by Ted Demme Category:Films set in Connecticut Category:Touchstone Pictures films Category:Don Simpson films Category:Jerry Bruckheimer films
de:No Panic – Gute Geiseln sind selten fr:Tel est pris qui croyait prendre nl:The Ref pl:Spec ru:Осторожно, заложник! sv:Absolut gisslanThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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