Bad Santa
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton .... Willie
Tony Cox .... Marcus
Brett Kelly .... The Kid
Lauren Graham .... Sue
Lauren Tom .... Lois
Directed by
Terry Zwigoff
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
3/10. What I don't understand is why so many people love this movie. I had high expectations for this movie and I wanted to see this movie very badly. I watched the Badder version but I don't think that made too much of a difference. The movie moved slowly and it didn't really go anywhere. I felt very fidgety throughout the movie. Only some parts were funny and most were not. The only acting I enjoyed was Tony Cox who played Marcus the short little elf. There just wasn't much to this movie.
Rater #2
6/10. As foul-mouthed and dirty as it is, Bad Santa is one of the most
surprising and desperately needed movies this year. Not everyone gets
in the holiday cheer, as Hollywood would want us to think, and Bad
Santa illustrates that perfectly as the first scene has Willie (Billy
Bob Thornton) in a Santa outfit, getting drunk in a bar. Soon
afterwards, he's outside vomiting. Not exactly the ho-ho-ho St. Nick
we all know and love.
Willie and his elfish friend Marcus (Tony Cox) move around to another
mall in another city each Christmas with the intentions of robbing
the mall Christmas Eve. They've done this for eight years, but this
year Willie has gotten drunker and drunker, spewing out insults to
all of the kids who just want a sit on Santa's lap. However,
everything changes when he meets Sherman (Brett Kelly), a lonely,
na�ve kid. Willie's in trouble with the law, so he shacks up with
Sherman for a while, and starts to realize the true meaning of
Christmas (what else?).
Bad Santa is a dark, hateful comedy. There's nothing light and cheery
about it, for the most part. If seeing Billy Bob insult anyone who
comes into his way makes you laugh, then Bad Santa was made just for
you. To me, I found that it had its moments, but there wasn't
anything that hilarious in it. Some of the insults were funny, some
weren't. It was pretty much hit-and-miss. The funniest part of the
entire movie was during the opening scene, which I have already
described, a woman sitting behind me said, "I know THAT feeling."
I do appreciate, however, the courage that everyone, especially
director Terry Zwigoff, had to make such a daring picture. This is
not a normal movie, and everyone involved knew it, so I think that in
itself deserves applause.
Thornton seemed to know too well how to be an unlikable drunkard, but
I think he was great in Bad Santa simply because he took a character
that no one in their right mind would like to be next to and by the
end turn him into an all-around nice guy. Cox was great, too, but his
so-called "plot twist" at the end disappointed me. Speaking of
disappointment, many people who were in this movie were wasted,
specifically Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Bernie Mac, John Ritter, Ajay
Naidu, Alex Borstein, and Cloris Leachman. They all had very small
roles, and more could have been done with them.
I could see some people not liking the ending, for it's the typical
gooey Hollywood ending, but I felt it worked well and not tacked on,
as many endings like that are. I liked how it didn't really explain
everything and didn't wrap the ending up in a nice little package
with a bow and express ship it to our hearts. It was somewhat open-
ended and closed on a completely different note than the opening
began with, and change is what the movie's all about.
Bad Santa is a refreshing and sometimes funny comedy that most people
probably won't like because it's crude and profane. However, if you
can put up with that, you'll find lots to like.
Rated R for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence.
Running time: 93 minutes
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