Bad Santa

I saw the trailers and knew what I was in for when I went to see Bad Santa. It's not Nice Santa or Naughty Santa, but BAAADD SANTA, horribly drunk and disorderly Santa. Rude and Crude Santa.

I laughed until tears streamed down my face.

There is a lot of sexual situations and profanity, but you have to look past it. Those sensitive to foul language should not watch this movie nor FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL. This is not a kiddie movie, but a movie made for adults.

Compared to ELF, SANTA CLAUSE, and a whole raft of other so-so Christmas related comedies, this is one of the best. Most holiday humor movies are always on the lightside with an eye to the children market during the holidays. This one ranks in there with A Christmas STORY and PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES and THE GRINCH WHO STOLE Christmas (cartoon version).

BAD SANTA is Christmas at its darkest, full of profanity, bad people, and evil deeds. But at the heart of it is a small bit of caring by one Bad Santa.

Billy Bob Thornton has found his Josef Von Sternberg in Terry Zwigoff. As a revolting, immoral, insignificant Santa, Billy Bob is a wonder. His face is a moving, disturbing, hysterical reflection of his awareness. His life sucks. The cut from Miami to Billy Bob and his partner walking down the street in their Christmas costumes is, on its own, worth the price of admission. Terry Zwigoff has transformed the crumbs of society into a sophisticated, adult, art form. Billy Bob and his sensational young co star Brett Kelly create characters never seen before on the screen and as a consequence we cling on to their every nuance, incapable to predict what could happen next. That in itself makes Bad Santa a very welcome surprise and a great time at the movies.

Willie, a grumpy drunk, and Marcus, a dwarf, work together as Santa and his Christmas elf in shopping malls. This is not for the love of the Christmas season but because they plan to rob the mall when the safe is full of Christmas takings. Each year they change names and cities. This year they are in Phoenix. Willie is drinking more than ever, swearing in front of the children and having sex in the changing rooms... Marcus thinks all of this is unprofessional as it nearly gets them fired before they can rob the mall. The manager asks the head of security to investigate. While on duty Willie is visited by a child named Thurman who seems to actually think he is Santa... which proves handy when Willie needs a place to stay! Before the day of the robbery Willie gets together with Sue, an attractive barmaid with a Santa fetish and helps Thurman deal with some bullies.

If you are after a Christmas movie for all of the family this is most definitely not it! Our protagonist is not only a criminal but also a total degenerate whose behaviour is almost always inappropriate. If you are not easily offended there are laughs to be had from start to finish. Most of these come from Billy Bob Thornton's eponymous 'Bad Santa'; he does a fantastic job making the character sleazy but without making him unlikeable. Tony Cox is solid as Marcus; Brett Kelly is great as Thurman, a character I initially feared would be annoying, and Lauren Graham was likeable as Sue. The story moves at a good pace with none of the scenes being dragged on too long. There are one or two surprises before the end but nothing that felt unlikely. Overall I'd definitely recommend this as an antidote to all those saccharine Christmas moves.

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)