The Ref (1994) review

Deeply unhappy - and semi-affluent - married couple Lloyd (Kevin Spacey) and Caroline (Judy Davis) are taken hostage on Christmas Eve in their nice house by wanted jewel thief Gus (Denis Leary), except their incessant arguing works on Gus' nerves ... and then Lloyd and Caroline's problematic son Jesse (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.) comes home from military school and the rest of Lloyd's family shows up, including his domineering mother Rose (Glynis Johns), brother Gary (Adam LeFevre) and prim sister-in-law Connie (Christine Baranski).  This was intended to be a vehicle for stand-up Leary based on the success he had doing his Bill Hicks impersonation, but unexpectedly Spacey and Davis - who just so happen to be two of the best acting talents in the world - steal the picture from under him ... and yet the constant stream of bickering does become stale after a while and the movie stalls out following a raucous first half.  It's noteworthy as the big screen debut of J. K. Simmons (as Col. Siskel, no doubt a reference to the late Chicago-based critic) and as a jaded alternative to traditionally "upbeat" Holiday fare (take a drag off a Marlboro Red every time Leary tells someone to "shut up"), and this exchange unfortunately applies three decades later: "Who would catch a criminal and let him go free?"  "Republicans?"