Movie Review: Bad Santa

Bad Santa

Here's another movie that's received a good deal of publicity lately, not the least of which involves repeated warnings to parents: this is not a holiday movie for children! It has also, however, garnered some very good reviews, and the theatre trailers have been more than a little amusing. Despite my bad experiences lately with over-hyped movies, I and a friend were determined to go, and so we did. Now, after sitting through Bad Santa, I'm back at my keyboard to say: Finally! A film that lives up to its buzz!

Billy Bob Thornton (Willie) is a very, very Bad Santa. He and his partner in crime, Marcus (Tony Cox), have a scam they run annually. Willie becomes a department store Santa, and Marcus - who is a Little Person - serves as his elf. In reality, the two are casing the security measures taken by the store and planning to rob it of its considerable cash after the close of business on Christmas Eve. Willie, who has a serious drinking problem and doesn't like children, isn't the nicest guy on the planet nor the best choice to be Santa. But he can crack safes, and so Marcus stays in the unstable partnership.

This year, their target is a mall in Phoenix, Arizona. Although the con has worked well in the past, Willie is causing problems with his non-stop drinking and unreliability. In fact, his misbehavior nearly gets them fired before they can pull the job by a suspicious mall manager (John Ritter in his final film role before his untimely death) and his head of security (Bernie Mac). As Willie and Marcus have their patience strained by each other, a needy child (Brett Kelly) latches onto Santa and, despite Willie's most offensive efforts, won't go away. The juggling gets even more tricky when Willie starts dating a bartender (Lauren Graham) with a "thing" for Santa Claus.

Billy Bob Thornton may be an eccentric human being, but he's a terrific actor. Tony Cox was only okay, but John Ritter, Bernie Mac, and Lauren Graham all gave very good supporting performances. The direction and editing were good, and there was little extraneous footage to be found (Bad Santa is a short movie - just an hour and a half). The script, while sometimes giving in and going for the obvious joke, is largely clever and cynical in equal measures. There were times I laughed aloud, and other times I knew I probably shouldn't, but couldn't help myself. In fact, I laughed a lot during this movie as did the girlfriend I was with. If you're sick of the typical holiday treacle, trust me: Bad Santa will get that sweet gooey taste right the #*&¢! out of your mouth.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Bad Santa is rated R. The warnings are for real, folks: Bad Santa is most definitely not for children! The language is bad and virtually constant; there are some overtly sexual scenes (though they're not explicit by any means); and there are a few moments of violence. For those 16 and up, however, who can handle dark comedy, I recommend Bad Santa without reservation. It's one of the best movies in the genre I've seen in a very, very long time.