The One With Bad Santa.

I watched Bad Santa (2003) for the first time on Christmas Eve and I was happy to because Billy Bob Thornton is HOT. Judging from the parts I've seen on television, I thought this film was going to be full of lame sex jokes but it wasn't. It was much more than that.

Directed by: Terry Zwigoff
Written by: Glenn Ficarra & John Requa

This film follows Willie, a conman, and Marcus, his partner, as they pose as Santa and his elf during the day only to rob the shopping centers they work in at night. Trouble then presents itself when Willie becomes somewhat of a father figure to a child and one of the security boss' find out about the partners in crime.

Thornton plays Willie, the Bad Santa. He is a sexually driven, bitter alcoholic but I love him. There is something extremely appealing about Willie that really made me love him and kept me interested the entire way through. Thornton was absolutely fantastic as Willie. I could not imagine anybody else in the role.
Tony Cox plays Marcus, Willie's sidekick and the elf. I have never seen him in anything else before and I thought he was very good in this. He is funny as hell. The best line of the entire film was improvised by Cox and it is legendary. It reads: "You probably shouldn't be digging in your ass". He gets kudos from me because of that one line.



Now for The Kid who is played by Brett Kelly. The Kid is a chubby, very lonely kid who lives with his grandmother. Kelly did an outstanding job! The Kid got to me like no other character in a film before. He's so damn adorable, sweet and utterly selfless. I wont reveal the ending, but things do work out for him in the end and he becomes happy which I appreciated, but he still breaks my heart.
Lauren Graham plays Sue who is a bartender who has a Santa fetish. I am a big fan of Graham for her work in Gilmore Girls and I also enjoyed seeing her in this film. Something different :)

Every time Marcus gave the go-ahead for kids to sit on Santa's lap and Santa just sweore at them & dismissed every one of them, it had me actually laughing out loud. These scenes are classic. In reality, it would be cruel, but on film it is gold.

I have a feeling I will not be watching this film any time soon, The Kid's scenes are simply too heartbreaking for me to endure. Throughout the entire film I was worried about what will happen to The Kid. For this reason, I could not completely enjoy it. Nevertheless, I did enjoy to a certain degree and it was hilarious and had some very memorable lines. Billy Bob is great as always. Maybe a second viewing of the film will ease my sadness for The Kid since I know his fate...we might find out next year.
I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Watch the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyurNrqSebk

Rating: R
Runtime: 91 min | 88 min (Director's cut) | 98 min (unrated version)

Taysha. x