Lloyd and Caroline Chassuer (Spacey and Davis) are on the verge of divorce when they are kidnapped by a thief named Gus (Leary) who is fleeing the scene of a botched burglary and needs a place to hide until his partner can find them a way out of town, which is no easy task since the small, upper-middle class community has been quartered off due to the robbery. Gus unwittingly becomes a third party observer to the kind of family drama the holidays have a way of bringing out.
*Spoiler Alert* This is a movie I watch a few times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Like some of the movies found on the Halmark channel this time of year, the film focuses on a family’s conflict coming to a head and subsequently moving toward resolution on Christmas eve. The humor is more adult oriented and peppered heavily with colorful expletives. In other words, this is not a movie you’re going to want to watch with the kids. The cast performance in this film is very good. Denis Leary gives one of his best performances, bringing a humanity rarely seen in a cat burglar. Spacey and Davis have an excellent chemistry together and both play off of Leary very well.
The only thing about this movie I don’t really like is the ending. According to the internet movie database (IMDB.com) the original ending of the movie had Gus being arrested in front of the Chasseur’s troubled son, showing him that crime does not pay which prompts him to open a dialogue with his parents. This ending was changed to the family helping Gus escape due to poor test audience reactions, and the director of the film has stated that he regrets the change.
All in all, this is a very funny film to watch during Christmas after the kids go to bed.
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