Review of Bad Santa (2003) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

I had been keen to see this for a while, I guess a part of me liked the idea of an antidote to the overly saccharine, sugary sweet sentimental family Christmas movies where everyone is perfect and whatever else, bah humbug to that, its so unrealistic and anyway its got to be somewhat of a novelty to see (or more, hear) a santa that swears like a trooper, right? ok so perhaps that shows a bad light on me for thinking that way but I admit it, I was somewhat interested to watch this movie knowing thats what it'd be like or would feature... a swearing santa, who'd have thought it?!

The movie is ok, although it will be a bit too dark for some im sure and of course this isn't at all for children, even though it does feature one fairly young kid in particular, I certainly wouldn't recommend it be shown to anyone under the age of about 16 or 17 at least. It was somewhat amusing but I think its too much of a one joke movie really, im certainly glad it didn't last considerably longer. I felt quite sad for the young boy, seeing him getting bullied by the local teenagers and clearly not seeing 'Santa' for who he really is. The boy follows Willie around most of the time because he's clearly shy and lonely and so he wants to be protected by this low life drunk that he somehow believes will protect him and give him what he wants at Christmas.

As I say, this is clearly quite a dark movie and it does have a couple of scenes that are quite funny, one being where Willie comes home with his then girlfriend to find the boys grandmother looking frighteningly stiff and still sitting on the couch. I guess its nice to know that they cared enough to check whether or not she had expired at that point!

Its perhaps worth mentioning that Bernie Mac stars in this movie, he makes a nice addition to the cast as the rather suspicious store manager Gin, who Willie and Marcus try to get rid of. Although really the main star of this movie, character and performance-wise, as far as im concerned, is the young boy (he's unnamed in the movie) played by Brett Kelly.

For those who are aware of the movie drillbit taylor (which I've also reviewed, earlier this year), this actor and the movie in some parts/scenes reminded me quite alot of that movie, which is maybe a bit random but its my review so im adding it in, so there you go lol.

I think its ok as, like I say, an antidote to your overly saccharine sweet sentimental family Christmas movie, if you think of it as a mildly amusing novelty movie for adults where you get to see the previously unheard of - a potty mouthed Santa whos a drunk and doesn't have any interest in kids.

The ending is kind of funny, though you may feel kind of cheated by the outcome too but its hard to explain it without giving too much away.

If your a fan of dark movies and you like something a bit different, if your the 'bah humbug' type this time of year and you think the concept/story would amuse you, then I'd recommend it I guess but its hardly a masterpiece movie by any real standards.

I thought it was just worth watching the once and I certainly wouldn't say its worth buying the DVD outright, not if it costs more than a few quid certainly but its diverting enough to watch once for an hour and a half or so, if you know what to expect.