Bad Santa

Willie is a Santa Claus actor. Every year he dons the red suit and brings joy and wonder to countless kids at local malls.
But Willie and his Elf, Marcus, have a secret. They rob the most successful store in whatever mall they happen to be working in that year. Willie himself is an extraordinary safe cracker too.

Willie has another vice as well, he’s an extreme alcoholic and has little respect for authority and tends to get extremely depressed during the festive season.
This year however, Willie and Marcus will have their friendship tested, their skills as cat-burglars put under scrutiny and Willie will have his morals questioned when The Kid comes into his life, along with a possible girlfriend.


Now, pay little attention to the trailers for this movie… it’s not average humour and certainly isn’t the zany comedy that the trailers made it out to be.
Bad Santa is a highly adult comedy, filled with all the stereotypical characteristics of the alcoholic Santa and lots and lots of bad language, incredibly funny one liners, even funnier slapstick and is packed with some insane and irregular plot devices.

One thing that lets the film down though is that the second half of the second act and first half of the third, is all a bit sappy and full of humane and mawkish moral devices and emotional scenes. It works to an extent but does feel a bit out of place with what was going on beforehand. After that though, the rest of the third act returns to the usual loud and offensive comedy that made the first half so funny and turns the volume up to 11 again as well.

The screenplay does get a little lost though from time to time which is probably down to the almost experimental nature of the story and plot… still though, it’s easy enough to follow.


There’s not a massive amount of action as such, but there is a few hits of slapstick style comedy and the occasional hint of gunplay when the duo get themselves in trouble.


Billy Bob Thornton absolutely shines as Willie/Santa though. If anything, it’s one of Thornton’s best roles. His natural talent for taking what was already a funny script and turning it into something even more cutting is perfect for the role.
Tony Cox also plays well with the script. You get the impression that he and Thornton had an absolute ball while filming too. Their chemistry is awesome and Cox really makes an impression.
Brett Kelley also hits the viewer brilliantly as the dippy, quiet and loveable Kid. It’s also one the most original characters I’ve seen in a long time.

Back up comes from Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, the late Bernie Mac… and the late and very great John Ritter.
All make impressions on the viewer too, especially Lauren Graham. She’s quite a surprise at how well she holds the film together as almost the voice of reason and the everyman of the cast.