Review of Bad Santa (2003) by Rudy M — 24 Oct 2015

I watched this movie for the first time when it was in theatres. In my memory, it was a pretty funny politically incorrect comedy. Now I've seen it again I think it's not that funny at all. I think I looked at it the wrong way.

The film tells the story of Willie (Billy Bob Thornton), a con man posing as Santa Claus for a few weeks a year with his 'helper' Marcus (Tony Cox). Their scam is to inject themselves into shopping mall Christmas decor by playing Santa and Elf and eventually robbing the mall of their Christmas Eve earnings.

But it isn't the Santa experience you'd expect. Willie is grouchy and foul-mouthed. He's an alcoholic who doesn't care for kids. His behavior puts his 'job' on the line more than once, much to the dismay of Marcus. Throughout the story, Willie changes somewhat, somehow, by the connections he makes on his latest job. There is a heart in there, somewhere.

All Willie's mean-spiritedness, foulness and inappropriateness is never really portrayed as 'funny'. He's a pretty tragic character, and Thornton does a great job of portraying his different sides and nuances. The supporting cast also does a fine job. They all manage to keep their performances in line with the tragic undertone of the whole thing.

Terry Zwigoff directed this one. He has not done a lot of movies. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa wrote it. They also have not done a lot of movies. They do not do special effects or 3d. They tell sad or special stories, often misinterpreted by those who just scratch the surface.