Bad Santa

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Horrorphile - December 2008

Bad Santa

December 24th 2008 04:54

“I've been to prison once, I've been married - twice. I was once drafted by Lyndon Johnson and had to live in shit-ass Mexico for 21/2 years for no reason. I've had my eye socket punched in, a kidney taken out and I got a bone-chip in my ankle that's never gonna heal. I've seen some pretty shitty situations in my life, but nothing has ever sucked more ass than this!”

I was going to review The Nightmare Before Xmas (1993), but it’s rated G, and that ain’t Horrorphile is about. So then I decided to watch Bad Santa (2003) again, ‘cos I like how filthy, obnoxious and reprehensible Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is, and he makes for a wicked alternative to the ho-ho-ho everyone is familiar with.

Billy Bob Thornton as Willie

Jack Nicholson read the script and wanted to do it, but was already committed to another movie. Seinfeld creator/writer and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator/writer/star Larry David was considered for the role of Willie, and Bill Murray was signed on, but dropped it to star in Lost in Translation. Murray would’ve been great, but Thornton captures that disheveled wrongness even better, and curiously Thornton admits he was genuinely inebriated during much of the filming. I do love a Method Bad Santa.

It features John Ritter’s final movie appearance as an uptight Department Store manager (some hilarious outtakes on the DVD), and director Terry Zwigoff (who made the brilliant documentary Crumb and the delightful Ghost World) dedicates movie to him. There’s also a deleted scene featuring Sarah Silverman as a Santa Trainer.

Bad Santa Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox

Willie and Marcus (Tony Cox) love the crybabies

Willie is an ex-con with a drinking habit and a mouth like an ashtray. He swears like a fucking trouper and has a penchant for fucking womens’ asses, especially if they’ve got thick calves. He steals whenever he can, yet always ends up pissing the money away so that he has to return to playing Santa at Xmas time in the department stores alongside his partner in crime, Marcus (Tony Cox), a small person who dresses as Santa’s elf … and then he gets fired for verbally abusing kids and/or their parents.

Bad Santa Billy Bob Thornton and Brett Kelly

The Kid (Brett Kelly) befriends Bad Santa

To add complication to Willie’s already complicated life comes The Kid (Brett Kelly) an overweight, very needy, naïve young boy who sees Willie’s Santa guise in a Holier Than Thou light. Then there’s bartender Sue (Lauren Graham, cast curiously against type) who loves the way Santa screws her (“I've always had a thing for Santa Claus. In case you didn't notice. It's like some deep-seeded childhood thing … Fuck me, Santa! Fuck me, Santa! Fuck me, Santa!”), and they way he matches her consumption for alcohol. The Kid and Sue tag along while Willie and Marcus get themselves embroiled in one social nightmare after another.

Lauren Graham as Sue

The late great John Ritter

Bad Santa boasts 170 “fucks” (including its variations), definitely a record for silly season movies. There are enough “profanities” to make the genuine Kris Kringle blush the colour of his red suit. The screenplay, while dredged in pitiful behaviour, actually has a heart of fool’s gold, and Willie’s letter to The Kid at movie’s end captures this mistletoed irony in a few colourful sentences. Good on ya Willie! Originally penned by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa, the script was then revised by producers Joel & Ethan Coen (whose black sense of humour shines darkly) and director Zwigoff. From the DVDs outtakes it appears Thornton was allowed to improvise a fair deal too.

Bad Santa is a guilty pleasure and a damn fine way to round off an unnecessarily clean Christmas celebration with the family. So, pour yourself a stiff (yeah, baby) bourbon, roll up a fat one and pass it around your dirty-minded grinch mates, then kick the Xmas tree over and kick back on the sofa to watch Billy Bob get Santa’s boots real grubby.

Bad Santa Billy Bob Thornton and Lauren Graham

Here's the trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

2 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

January 15th 2009 03:13

Film & TV on DVD

A huge yuletide favourite of mine here as you know.

Billy Bob is a method man after my own liver...

Comment by Bryn

January 15th 2009 05:13

Horrorphile

Finally, someone comments, and of course, it's JD. Welcome back my good man! *clink*

[ Previous - Horrorphile's BLOODY BEST of 2008 ]

[ Next - The Strangers ]

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