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Movie Forums :: Reviews :: Bad Santa, Good Movie |
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Posted on 12/01/03
Bad Santa, Good Movie
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Like any year, this year has it's fair share of sunny tempered, festive, holiday films that illicit collective yawns and eye rolls among cynics the world over, but with Bad Santa those of us not in the mood for the usually cheery trite finally have something naughty to sink our teeth into. It's a filthy, crude, no holds barred festival of disgust, not to mention a whole hell of a lot of fun!
Billy Bob Thornton plays Willie, a sad sack, heavy drinking crook, who fronts as a department store Santa under the leadership of his dwarf friend Marcus, who pretends to be one of Santa's little helpers. The two work the unenviable job in the hopes of cracking the store's safe after hours on Christmas Eve, and making off with the bonanza of holiday profits as well as some select merchandise. After years of success however, the duo seems to be headed for disaster: Willie is drunker and more pathetic than ever, their newest target has a suspicious manager (John Ritter in one of his last roles) and a hotshot head of security (Bernie Mac), and worst of all Santa has moved in with Thurman, one of cinema's screwiest kids ever.
The casting for this film is right on target. Billy Bob Thornton is perfect as Willie, and Tony Curtis has the precise amount of gruffness needed to play the ultra-sardonic dwarf Marcus. Of course it's the casting of parts written for children that often cripple a movie, but Brett Kelly, who plays the kid Santa moves in with (whose name I don't think is ever mentioned), is never portrayed as an irritatingly adorable kid. Rather, Kelly plays a cloying wimpy chump; in essence, an adolescent mirror of Billy Bob Thornton's Willie.
Bad Santa is the fourth film by director Terry Zwigoff who is quickly establishing himself as one of the best working American film directors. His first film was the little seen documentary Louie Bluie which is virtually unavailable in any format. His two other previous films (both of them excellent) were the documentary Crumb, and the comic book inspired Ghost World. Bad Santa is certainly his most mainstream entry so far, but it's content and tone make it more of a middle finger salute to the sappiest genre of Hollywood films than a serious attempt at commercialism.
Bad Santa is, without a doubt, hilarious, but it's not for all audiences. The film holds no punches; in fact, it takes pleasure in its crudeness, and has more cursing than any other new film I've seen in the past few years. Jokes about wedgies, having anal sex with large women, alcoholism, and various other offending topics run rampant throughout the film, but the filmmakers' audacity in putting this onscreen is also part of what makes it so entertaining. It's not a movie to take the kids to, and conservative film goers may want to avoid it as well. It's the kind of movie that makes you feel bad for laughing, but is so funny you can't will yourself to stop. With all of that said, the film does have a heart. It's buried under filth, but it's there.
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