

A cat burglar is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve.
Acting
Leary's explosive rants vs. Spacey's simmering rage.
Writing
Every insult lands like a slap—brutal and earned.
Direction
Ted Demme squeezes genuine heart from hostage chaos.

Director
Ted Demme
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Denis Leary rewrote most of his own dialogue; the original script was much gentler.
This flopped in 1994 but became a cult Christmas staple—too cynical for its era, perfect for ours.