Review of Bad Santa (2003) by Thomas M — 22 Sep 2009

This is one of my favorite movies. It's such a go for broke pulls no punches kind of movie that rarely gets made at any time in history. Billy Bob Thornton is at his cranky best throughout. You could almost think him and his character are one and the same.

And judging by all the movies he has made (for the most part) since this movie came out its clear he may have been typecasted. This is a movie about a loser who never does anything right. At least untill he's knee deep in some bad shit and ultimately messes up so many things that it all balances out for him in the end.

There is some actual pathos in this film. His eventual liking of the kid and how he redeems himself is really nice. Sure. There is a strange undercurrancy of melancholy rolling throughout this film and at times it feels like what I am watching I shouldn't be laughing at.

But that just makes it all that much better. I remember seeing this at one of my many low points and just not even blanching an eye at the depravity I saw on the screen. I found it hysterical and freshly bold.

Watching it with almost 6 years in hindsight this is still a very funny movie but in the end it is a movie about a man who no longer bothers to even subtly cry out for help. He stopped caring long ago.

And is content to sit it out untill he dies. Drinking the hours away and wasting time the only way he knows. At least untill fate eventually intervened.