Bad Santa

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)

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 (Billy Bob Thornton) is a drunk who plays store Santa for Christmas. He and his partner-in-crime Marcus (Tony Cox) case out the department store where they work and rob it on Christmas Eve every year. Willie befriends a chubby loner boy (Brett Kelly), and bartender Sue (Lauren Graham) who has Santa issues. Then store manager Gin (Bernie Mac) muscles in on their action.

Bad Santa is demented and destructive. Billy Bob Thornton goes over the edge, and Tony Cox goes right along with him. This is no Christmas special. And I love the kid Brett Kelly. He isn't your average adorable little kid. He's your average loser kid. That makes their friendship so much better. This is a great black Christmas.

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.

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