Bad Santa
Director Terry Zwigoff's only other well known work before this was Ghost World, which was one of the best movies of 2001. Bad Santa is obviously intended for adults, but the writers of the film have only done one other movie and that was a kids movie. How could they handle writing a naughty movie about Santa. Well they had the help of the Coen Brothers, whom have given the world delights such as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and O' Brother Where Art Thou. Well with the Coen Brothers as executive producers, a good director, and previews that did little to entice, how would this movie fair?
The plot revolves around Billy Bob Thornton's character of Willie. Willie is a drunk, disgusting, pig of a man, who becomes Santa for malls around Christmas time each year. Sounds like he is full of good cheer, but he has different reasons for being St. Nick. Willie and his midget partner Marcus, whom plays the elf every year, are actually thieves that wait until Christmas Eve to rob stores blind. Willie is so disgusting and foul, he should be fired on various occasions, but never is. You see, he and Marcus found a loophole. Marcus is not only a dwarf but he's black, and nobody wants to face the wrath of the politically correct crowd for firing a black midget. The two start working at a new mall, run by Bob Chipeska(John Ritter). Chipeska is appauled at their actions after finding Willie using foul language and making love to a woman who shops in the "big and tall" section. He alerts his head of security, Gin(Bernie Mac), to keep an eye on them. Well they never do anything to slip up and cause firing. One day a strange fat boy befriends Willie and the two form a bond. Willie starts to appreciate this kid and feel for him. Don't get the wrong idea, Willie remains as vulgar as ever, he just gains a little bit of heart. Most of the film is spent between Thornton interacting with the kid and planning the heist.
The cast does a magnificent job. Thornton is the symbol of dirty in this role. He drinks, curses, makes love to fat women, and just about everything else. Working with the Coen Brothers is nothing new for Thornton, as he has appeared in Intolerable Cruelty and The Man Who Wasn't There. This is his funniest(and best) role since Bandits. The rest of the cast basically have minor roles to back up Thornton. Tony Cox, who was funny in Me, Myself, and Irene, plays the midget, who uses as much foul language as anyone. He provides great laughs and compliments Thornton perfectly. Bernie Mac and John Ritter have funny moments but they were not on the screen long enough to do more.
Bad Santa is a great comedy, intended strictly for the adult crowd. Nowadays most comedies try to bring in kids and parents alike, but this is the kind of movie that parents should watch without the kids. The movie is not simply "toilet" humor, but instead is very smart. People should not take this movie for anything more than it is and that is a vulgar comedy. The movie has aspects of "The Grinch" in that Thornton starts to come around to the little kid, but he never really cleans up. The title of the film says it all, the movie is about a bad man. This movie is not a typical Christmas film, but that is because it can't appeal to kids. If you want a good Christmas film take the kids to Elf. Bad Santa could become a cult classic for Christmas time and probably should. If you are in the mature crowd and want a more adult comedy, check this out.
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for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence