History Film / TheRef

Leary plays Gus, a cat burglar who breaks into the house of a millionaire in the hopes of pulling off a job that will let him retire, but he gets tripped up by an... ''eccentric'' trap and suddenly has to hide out from the bungling local cops until his partner Murray can secure a way to escape after the entire area is put on alert. To avoid the police patrolling the streets, Gus takes Lloyd and Caroline Chasseur (a highly dysfunctional middle class suburban couple) hostage so he can hide out in their home until the escape is ready. There's just two problems; 1) Lloyd and Caroline are so dysfunctional and angry with each other that they would rather fight than pay any attention to Gus, and 2) it's Christmas Eve and everyone from Lloyd and Caroline's bright delinquent son Jesse (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.) to their whole extended family is coming over for dinner. (And since this is 1994 and cell phones are ''very'' far from common, there's no way to call the Christmas dinner off.)

* FiveFiveFive: The number to Lloyd's house, as reported by Gus.
** Also, Winslow Harbors.

* BlackSheep: Lloyd and Caroline's son, Jesse.

-->'''Mary:''' Maybe they'll catch him and let him go in the spirit of Christmas.
-->'''Connie:''' That is not the spirit of Christmas. The spirit of Christmas is either you're good or you're punished and you burn in hell.
* TheDogBitesBack: Lloyd and Caroline are anything but meek hostages towards Gus. This can also apply to when Lloyd's family turns on his mother at the end, [[spoiler: Lloyd's sister-in-law even going so far as to give Gus permission to shoot her.]]

* DysfunctionJunction: ... oooooh boy.

* EvilDebtCollector: Caroline regards Lloyd's mother as this due to the fact that they're living in ''her'' house ''and'' paying her rent. When Lloyd gives her the next payment, she even remarks "we'll have to see what happens with interest rates in the new year."
** Even Gus calls her out on this, specifically noting that he knows {{Loan Shark}}s more forgiving than her. It's worth noting that she is apparently charging Lloyd ''18% interest'' on the loan she made him.
* EvilMatriarch: Lloyd's mother.

* HotBlooded: When he can keep his head, Gus is a fairly intelligent DeadpanSnarker. Most of the time, he's lashing out at anything nearby and only causing more destruction in doing so.

* [[BadCopIncompetentCop Incompetent Cop, Even More Incompetent Cop]]: The entire local police force is like this, except DaChief. Most notably when they accidentally record over the footage from the house security camera with a part of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''.
* ItsAllMyFault: Lloyd's climactic speech at the Christmas tree, where he calls Caroline out for being just as much to blame for the state of their marriage as he is due to her indecisiveness, her desire to live beyond her means, and forcing him to make all the tough decisions in their lives:

* MommasBoy: Lloyd, big time.

* OnlySaneMan: Gus and the local police chief.
** One could also argue that Jesse, (Lloyd and Caroline's son) mostly falls under this category, although it's somewhat undermined by his need to act out via petty acts of delinquency and rebellion, regardless of how dumb and needless said acts of delinquency might be.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gus tosses these around like candy, mostly about how everyone takes what they have for granted. Also, when Jesse asks to become Gus' apprentice, Gus not only tells Jesse why Jesse sucks, but also explains why Gus himself sucks.

** Everybody towards everybody.

* YouNeedToGetLaid: At the very beginning of the movie Caroline voices this opinion of Lloyd's mother. In a therapy session of theirs when Lloyd mentions that their son Jesse started an escort service in 9th grade by passing around Lloyd's mother's phone number, Caroline snaps back "And I still say getting laid by an 18 year old linebacker is ''just what she needs!''"

** Caroline hits Lloyd with a devastating one, regarding ''his mother:'' "Why don't you just sleep with her and get it over with?" Even ''Gus'' is stunned by ''that'' one.

* TakeThat: There's a character named Siskel, and he's played by J.K. Simmons. The resemblance to film critic Gene Siskel is not a coincidence. (Gene Siskel gave "The Fisher King," another movie by the same screenwriter, a negative review.)

* JerkAss: Lloyd's mother. There really are no words to describe how rude, arrogant, and self-centered this bitch is.

''The Ref'' (''Hostile Hostages'' in some countries) is a 1994 black comedy film directed by Ted Demme and starring Creator/DenisLeary, Judy Davis and Creator/KevinSpacey.

* LethalChef: Apparently Caroline. The rest of the family stops to eat dinner before getting to her house so they won't have to eat any more of her cooking than they have to.

* EveryoneHatesFruitCakes: The town Santa goes door to door giving away home-made fruitcakes. The Casseurs throw it away the moment he leaves.

* EveryoneHatesFruitcake: The town Santa goes door to door giving away home-made fruitcakes. The Casseurs throw it away the moment he leaves.

* EveryoneHatesFruitCake: The town Santa goes door to door giving away home-made fruitcakes. The Casseurs throw it away the moment he leaves.

* NostalgiaFilter: Caroline definitely has one for her and Lloyd's days as a young couple in NewYorkCity. As seen in the quote under ItsAllMyFault, Lloyd finally calls her on it.

* YouNeedToGetLaid: At the very beginning of the movie Caroline voices this opinion of Lloyd's mother. In a therapy session of theirs when Lloyd mentions that their son Jesse started an escort service in 9th grade by passing around Lloyd's mother's phone number, Caroline snaps back "And I say getting laid by an 18 year old linebacker is ''just what she needs!''"

''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.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Christmas dinner can't be cancelled because it's 1994 and the extended family is already on the road. Starting about 5-6 years later cell phones would '''''really''''' take off and Connie and Lloyd's brother would have presumably gotten a call and a convincing lie to stop them from coming over, averting most of the movie.

* [[BadCopIncompetentCop Incompetent Cop, Even More Incompetent Cop]]: The entire local police force is like this, except DaChief. Most notably when they accidentally record over the footage from the house security camera with a part of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''.

* JerkAss: Lloyd's mother. There really are no words to describe how rude, inconsiderate and self-centered this bitch is.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Christmas dinner can't be cancelled because the extended family is already on the road. 10 years later Connie and Lloyd's brother would have presumably gotten a call on their cell phone and a convincing lie to stop them from coming over, averting most of the movie.

-->'''Lloyd:''' I told you what moving here could mean, but ''you'' were the one who said we should consider it! Not the actual ''moving,'' just the ''considering.'' The actual moving ''in'' part was left to ''me!'' Why? Because you didn't know what to do. You were...confused; you didn't know if it was the right thing. But you were sure as hell sick and tired of living in a one-bedroom apartment in New York City, so don't hand me that 'it was the best of times' bullshit! You didn't want to work anymore and you didn't want any help with the baby because you wanted to do it all by yourself! And you ''hated'' New York because we weren't as rich as your college friends were to enjoy it! We couldn't afford a bigger place, and you were ''miserable'' being around people who ''could!'' AND...we were up to our EARS in debt! But moving ''here'' was ''my'' decision! RIGHT! And the loan was the same situation!

* BoundAndGagged: Pretty much every character except Gus and Lloyd's brother's kids spends part of the movie in this state.

* ItsAllMyFault: Lloyd's climactic speech at the Christmas tree, where he calls Caroline out for being just as much to blame for the state of their marriage as he is due to her indecisiveness, her desire to live like a rich person, and forcing him to make all the tough decisions in their lives:

* ItsPronouncedTroPAY: The Chasseurs make a RunningGag out of correcting mispronunciations of their last name. "It's pronounced chas-OOHR! It's 18th century French Huguenot!"

** "Lady, your husband ain't dead. He's hiding."

* OldShame: In-universe, Lloyd's ill-fated restaurant to him.

** We could also argue the son falls under this category.

-->''Let me explains something to you kid. What I do, running around stealing shit, that may sound great when you're 15 years old, but it sucks just a little bit when you're 35, no family, no house, I've got a partner who's a 56 year old alcoholic who can't figure out why they took ''Series/HappyDays'' off the air, and then I got to turn on the TV everyday and see kids like you, one after another on these talk shows, you got everything, opportunities up the ass, you got a family to come home to, and what do you do? You sit around, and you bitch and you moan, because things don't go your way. Well, you know what kid, welcome to the real world where most times, things don't go your fucking way.''

** Also, Caroline and Lloyd apparently haven't had sex for years according to Caroline.

* {{Asshole Victim}}: Lloyd and Caroline at first, and Lloyd's mother at the end.
* [[BadCopIncompetentCop Incompetent Cop, Even More Incompetent Cop]]: The entire local police force is like this, except DaChief. Most notably when they accidentally record over the footage from the house security camera with a part of ItsAWonderfulLife.
* {{Big Screwed Up Family}}: Lloyd's family embodies this trope and ''then'' some. Lloyd is a spineless mama's boy who goes crying back to her when things don't go his way, his son is a juvenile delinquent, and his brother is just as bad and married to an annoying shrew of a woman who walks all over him. The brother and shrew do have some well-adjusted kids, though.

* {{Black Sheep}}: Lloyd and Caroline's son, Jesse.

* {{Bound And Gagged}}: Pretty much every character except Gus and Lloyd's brother's kids spends part of the movie in this state.

* {{Cluster F Bomb}}: Gus' tirade at the end of the film. This trope could apply to the whole film as well.
* {{Do They Know Its Christmas Time}} : Subverted throughout the movie, then [[spoiler: played almost straight at the end.]]

* {{Its All My Fault}}: Lloyd's climactic speech at the Christmas tree, where he calls Caroline out for being just as much to blame for the state of their marriage as he is due to her indecisiveness, her desire to live like a rich person, and forcing him to make all the tough decisions in their lives:

* [[ItsPronouncedTroPAY It's Pronounced Tro-PAY]]: The Chasseurs make a RunningGag out of correcting mispronunciations of their last name. "It's pronounced chas-OOHR! It's 18th century French Huguenot!"

-->''Let me explains something to you kid. What I do, running around stealing shit, that may sound great when you're 15 years old, but it sucks just a little bit when you're 35, no family, no house, I've got a partner who's a 56 year old alcoholic who can't figure out why they took HappyDays off the air, and then I got to turn on the TV everyday and see kids like you, one after another on these talk shows, you got everything, opportunities up the ass, you got a family to come home to, and what do you do? You sit around, and you bitch and you moan, because things don't go your way. Well, you know what kid, welcome to the real world where most times, things don't go your fucking way.''

* {{Its All My Fault}}: Lloyd's climactic speech at the Christmas tree, where he calls Caroline out for being just as much to blame for the state of their marriage as he is due to her indecisiveness, her desire to live like a rich person, and forcing him to make all the tough decisions in their lives.

* JerkWithAHeartofGold: Gus shows sign of this at times.

* [[ItsPronouncedTroPAY It's Pronounced Tro-PAY]]: The Chasseurs make a RunningGag out of correcting mispronunciations of their last name. "It's pronounced chas-OOHR! It's 17th century French Huguenot!"