Review of Bad Santa (2003) by Matt D — 28 Dec 2009

A great funny christmas masterpeice. Bad Santa is a American dark comedy film directed by Terry Zwigoff, produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Billy Bob Thornton as the title character and Tony Cox as his partner in crime. Actors Bernie Mac and John Ritter (in his final live-action film) co-star. Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Ethan Phillips, Brett Kelly, and Cloris Leachman also star in the film.

The film begins in a bar on a December night in Milwaukee, where the viewer is introduced to Willie Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a bitter, lonely alcoholic. Willie works the holiday seasons as a mall Santa along with his dwarf friend, Marcus (Tony Cox), who works as Santa's elf. Every Christmas Eve, the two of them disable the security alarm after the mall closes and rob the mall safe; afterwards, Marcus returns to living with his wife (who Willie finds very ugly and annoying), Lois (Lauren Tom), while Willie goes to Miami and spends all his money on booze, a resort condo, and other purely hedonistic pursuits.

At the new mall they plan to steal from, Willie's alcoholic rants arouse the suspicion of mall manager Bob Chipeska (John Ritter), who asks security chief Gin (Bernie Mac) to investigate. Meanwhile, Willie meets bartender Sue (Lauren Graham), and they begin a relationship. He also meets a pudgy, preteen boy, whom he nicknames the Kid (Brett Kelly), during their visit in the mall.

Its a character driven film though with the characters being the big reason we love the film. The story is more complex than initially thought with a huge factor being Willie's hate for himself and the bond between him and the kid. Its also brilliant work how everyone is using him because he is Santa. You can really see that the Coen Brothers had something to do with it. The all-star cast gave a brilliant performance, and Billy Bob Thornton did a very, very great job. Although its not your typical christmas movie, it still keeps the christmas spirit alive. I love to watch this movie, during the weeks leading to christmas, one of my favorites. It's a great christmas movie for a Mature Audience! I love this movie, Two BIG thumbs up!!!!!