Bad Santa (2003)

Genre: Christmas / Comedy

Directed by: Terry Zwigoff

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly

Running time: 91 minutes

Willie Stokes and Marcus have had the same scheme going for years: Every holiday season, they find a job as Santa and elf in a shopping mall. Once their gig is over, they rob the place and make their escape only to start again in a different city the next year. Slowly, Willie’s propensity for the bottle and the pleasures of the flesh with big women is putting the business in jeopardy. When they arrive in Phoenix, Willie meets Thurman Merman, a lonely overweight kid who is living with his senile grandma and is being constantly bullied at school. At first, Willie finds the annoyingly gullible kid aggravating, but the boy slowly starts to grow on him.

Considering the sequel is coming out soon, I decided to revisit this film, which is a guilty pleasure of mine. It remains one of the few Christmas movies I truly love.

Billy Bob Thornton was tailor-made for this role. While he has offered much greater performances in such films as Sling Blade, Thornton goes full force into the role of a drunken and broken man who might very well find his redemption. In that sense, the character of Willie Stokes reminds us of The Grinch, whose heart finally grew.

The rest of the cast also did a good job. It was particularly a treat to see John Ritter in here. This film was shot shortly before his untimely death.

Overall, while Bad Santa is not your typical wholesome holiday film, I deeply appreciate it for daring to be crude and dark in a comedic way. This is one of those I can watch again and again.

Rating: «««««