an argument she had with him and she thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there were a third party to step in and referee?" She wrote several drafts and consulted with LaGravenese in 1991 and they took it to Disney. The studio approved the project within 20 minutes. LaGravenese spent a year revising the script until he finally got "tired of doing rewrites for executives." After Ted Demme directed comedian Denis Leary in No Cure for Cancer, a stand-up comedy special for Showtime, they got the script for The Ref and decided to do it. The studio cast Leary based on the sarcastic funny-man persona he cultivated in MTV spots that Demme directed. Leary joined the project as part of a three-picture deal with Disney. Their involvement motivated LaGravenese to come back to the project. Executive producer Don Simpson described the overall tone of The Ref as "biting and sarcastic. Just my nature." After test audiences responded poorly to the film's original ending—Gus turned himself in to show Jesse that a life of crime leads nowhere quickly—a new ending was shot in January 1994. Reception The Ref did not perform as well at the box office as Leary would have liked, and he blamed the studio's method of marketing it: "They did me like the MTV guy. And they shortchanged what the movie was all about." The film grossed a total of only $11,439,193 at the domestic box office, after coming in at #4 opening weekend, behind Guarding Tess, Lightning Jack and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Leary made fun of himself in a humorous article written for a 1994 issue of Playboy where he pretends to interview Pope John Paul II: Leary asks the Pope if he has seen The Ref, and the Pope responds that he was told it was very vulgar, as evident by its unpopularity. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 73% based on reviews from 55 critics, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's consensus is: "Undeniably uneven and too dark for some, The Ref nonetheless boasts strong turns from Denis Leary, Judy Davis, and Kevin Spacey, as well as a sharply funny script." Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars. He wrote, "Material like this is only as good as the acting and writing. The Ref is skillful in both areas." Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers