Have A Denis Leary Christmas
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
"You'll probably use this drama as an excuse for another affair! I feel sorry for the next delivery man who comes to this house!"
A top ten list of my favorite alternative Chistmas movies is forthcoming, but for now, I’d like to talk about one of my favorites, The Ref. Not only is it one of the funniest comedies ever, it’s got some of the sharpest, wittiest, and mean dialogue in a film I’ve ever heard. And, it’s got a great cast to deliver those lines.
Starting with Denis Leary, who here, it seems, is straying from his standup act a little, (unlike his performance in Demolition Man)but still manages to give us Gus, a burgular with a deeply buried heart of gold. When he’s almost captured on Christmas Eve, he takes a couple hostage. Unknown to him, they can’t occupy the same space for thirty seconds without getting into an argument. He finds this out very, very quickly when they start bickering while ignoring him waving a gun in their faces. Caroline (Judy Davis, in one of her best performances, I think) and Lloyd (Kevin Spacey, demonstrating his wide range by doing a broad comedy this time) Chasseur (That’s Chass-yoor! It’s 18th century French Hugeonot!) are a couple on the edge of falling apart. This is demonstrated in their very first scene where we see them at a marriage counseling session moderated by one of my favorite character actors B.D. Wong.
From the beginning, the waspy dialogue starts…check this out:
Caroline: “Our son is a very sensitive…”
Lloyd: “Juvenile delinquent!”
Caroline: “…BOY! He’s got the kind of imagination…”
Lloyd : “That the Mafia gives scholarships for. We told him he could get a summer job, and do you know what he did? He started an escort service for the school’s football team, and he gave out my mother’s phone number!”
Caroline: “And I say gettin’ laid by an 18 year old linebacker is JUST WHAT SHE NEEDS!”
See what I mean. This is the couple that Gus kidnaps to make a getaway. Imagine you’re a thief and under that kind of stress and these are the people in the car with you as you drive off? I’d have shot them and moved on! Gus, however, has a more practical side. Unfortunately for him, Caroline and Lloyd’s whole family are on their way over for Christmas. If this movie had a sarcasm meter, it would be set on 11!
Heading up Lloyd’s family is his mother, played by Glynis Johns. Man…Glynis Johns back in the day was a hot number. Here, she’s feisty as hell, and she’s not really ready to take any guff off an asshole with a gun. She lets Gus know this by telling him that he doesn’t have to balls to tie her to the back of a truck. How many grandmothers you know would say that to someone holding a gun in their face?
To me, this is one of the funniest movies ever made, and if you haven’t seen it, or if you’ve seen it edited for TV, you’ve made a mistake. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s mean (which is why I like the dialogue so much), and the ensemble here makes it look so effortless that at times, you’d almost believe something as ridiculous as this could actually happen. Rent it, buy it, find it, but if you’ve not seen it, don’t let this Christmas get away from you before you see this movie.
Just because Denis Leary is an asshole is no reason not to see this movie!
Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Oy, at first I thought that was a photo of Kevin Spacey and the guy from Twilight.
About the Ref, I think I’ve caught some of this on TV but I barely remember anything. I probably wasn’t paying much attention. Sounds like I should give this movie another chance.
I like Denis Leary but I’ve never watched Rescue Me, either.
Posted on December 2nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I am so glad Pez made me watch the Ref. It was awesome! Yes Kevin Spacey is a great dramatic actor, but holy cow! he should do more comedies. Fantastic stuff.