Bad Santa

Forget Jimmy Stewart and that claymation crap! If you like Christmas movies with more of an edge and lots of comedy however, "Bad Santa" might just be your new favorite holiday movie. In my mind, usurping "A Christmas Story" and "Scrooged" as the funniest holiday movie yet, Bad Santa (or BS as I like to call it) pulls no punches as it delivers a raunchy, yet funny, and yes, even a little bit of a touching film.

Billy Bob Thorton is a drinking, fornicating, defecating thief who freeloads for the whole year, only to work 25 days in December while robbing a mall of all it's holiday proceeds. His partner in crime is Tony Cox, Santa's little person helper who keeps him sober and lucid enough through the season to not royally screw things up.

I won't go into details, because frankly the plot needs work. But the acting is superb, the script hysterical, and the unbelievable jokes and inappropriate situations are just so entertaining you won't care about anything else.

Bernie Mac and Lauren Graham deliver polished supporting roles, as does John Ritter in his final film role before his death. The kid doesn't have many lines (and I want to slap him for the ones he does deliver), but just looking at him makes me laugh, so I can't complain there.

Basically, this is the ultimate inappropriate Christmas movie; one that makes you stand up and scream, "Holly s*!t I can't believe they did that!" This movie is just so blatantly wrong, the only other film I can compare it to is "South Park: The Movie." Just as South Park crosses every line of decency that previously existed, so does BS. A great movie because of it? Hell no. But a funny and entertaining one? Hell yes!

This is one of the best Christmas movie of all times. The casting is brilliant, and the chemistry between all the characters is very much present.

Billy Bob Thornton was especially funny as the loser in life who dons the red suit every Christmas. Just seeing Santa behaving drunken and swearing every other word tells you how different this is from the typical Christmas family friendly movies.

Bernie Mac was funny in his supporting role, and Tony Cox was OK. Billy Bob was phenomenal.

I've watched this movie twice already this Christmas season, and I loved every minute of it.

An extreme end to christmas comedy genre. It's so vulgar it makes you puke. It's so dark and makes you laugh to things you never wants to laugh but you'll still laugh anyway.

It's innovative cinematic style that embeds Tarantino, Ritchie and many darkly comic film makers makes this a unique gem of a film.

Characters are amazing. Style and film making is exceptional. Still it's a cinematic experience. And a fresh one at that.

Overall - 3.5/5

He drinks and smokes and pukes and wets his pants and has sex in public places. He has a horrible attitude, a trash mouth, is mean to little kids, hates himself, and robs department stores. Ok, so he's not all bad, but he is without a doubt the worst department store Santa ever. There's not a lot of stretching required of Thornton to get into character in this flick which capitalizes on the grosser than gross sense of comedy/humor as it wends its way through a simple tale about a scamming Santa and his dwarf/elf sidekick who rip off a department store a year to avoid honest toil. A mildly creative love it or hate it flick which tries as hard to be disgusting as funny, "Bad Santa" has, for obvious reasons, received mixed reviews. Only for the thick skinned who aren't easily offended by bad language, bad attitudes, or bad, bad Santas. (B)

This is not your typical feel-good Christmas movie, and it's not even trying to be but by the end, it really wins your heart and even gets you emotional.

Positives: Billy Bob Thornton owns this character. It never felt like he was acting , that is how incredible this performance was. He plays a guy who's down on his luck, doesn't even try to change it, yet there's a spark of goodness in him that shines fully by the end. Everyone in this movie delivers strong performances. There's enough brutal and dirty scenes to give your grandma nightmares, so beware who you watch it with. The main plot-robbing a mall during Christmas-works perfectly , and while not every joke lands, there are plenty of memorable, quotable scenes.

Negatives: I don't have a lot of complaints, but the main character being a complete loser causing chaos does get a bit stretched at times , it can get annoyingbut it still delivers some solid comedic moments. Another minor gripe is the ending. They had a chance for a very brave finale, but they chose a safer, more positive route. It fits the genre, but I feel like an opportunity was missed , even though I left the movie smiling.

Overall: Don't miss this movie. It's funny, has a meaningful plot, and isn't just dumb entertainment. I consider it a Christmas classic. We watch it every year at the right time and it always delivers.