Naughty to the Bone
Bad Santa is probably one of the cruelest, nastiest, most offensive Christmas movies ever, and it's also probably one of the worst. This dark, dark satire about a couple of conmen who rip off malls during the Christmas season could have been funny, insightful and biting—an attack on the mindless materialism, false benevolence and manufactured cheer that brings out the worst in the holiday-minded.
What we are given by director Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) and writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Cats and Dogs) is 90 minutes of bad Santa Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) getting drunk, urinating on himself, berating innocent children and having sex in the plus-sized dressing rooms with fittingly plus-sized mall customers.
All in all, Bad Santa is pretty depressing stuff, though, admittedly, the way in which Thornton and his little person side-kick (and brains of the robbery scam) Marcus (Tony Cox) interact with children is funny at times. But the way Bad Santa uses innocent children as the brunt of its jokes shows just how cynical it is, even for an R-rated dark comedy.
When he isn't having sex or getting drunk, Willie spends time with the unfortunately named Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), whom he berates unremittingly. Thurman, a fat kid who gets picked on regularly by neighborhood bullies, lives with his clueless grandma (Cloris Leachman in an absolutely thankless role), while his dad is in prison for embezzlement. Willie, seeing a free ride, stays with Thurman and has a grand time having sex with his girlfriend Sue (Lauren Graham)—who has a Santa fetish—and mooching off the kid and his grandmother.
The scenes in the mall are even more depressing with Willie swearing at the kids, many of whom have really done nothing wrong other than being little kids. A scene late in the movie has Willie beating up one of Thurman's antagonists—a creep who is probably only about 13. And through it all, Willie and Marcus are more worried about being caught by mall security and the police then being thrown in jail for abuse.
The robbery scam is little more than a MacGuffin to get Willie to Phoenix so he can meet Sue (who really loves the loser) and Thurman, creating a redemptive, if dysfunctional surrogate family. Bernie Mac as chain smoking, constipated mall security chief Gin and the late John Ritter as mall manager Bob Chipeska are absolutely wasted in their roles. Like the robbery plot, they serve no purpose other than to facilitate the scatological jokes that litter the movie. In the end, the only moviegoer this horrifying creep show could appeal to is someone who hates Christmas.
What we are given by director Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) and writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Cats and Dogs) is 90 minutes of bad Santa Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) getting drunk, urinating on himself, berating innocent children and having sex in the plus-sized dressing rooms with fittingly plus-sized mall customers.
All in all, Bad Santa is pretty depressing stuff, though, admittedly, the way in which Thornton and his little person side-kick (and brains of the robbery scam) Marcus (Tony Cox) interact with children is funny at times. But the way Bad Santa uses innocent children as the brunt of its jokes shows just how cynical it is, even for an R-rated dark comedy.
When he isn't having sex or getting drunk, Willie spends time with the unfortunately named Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), whom he berates unremittingly. Thurman, a fat kid who gets picked on regularly by neighborhood bullies, lives with his clueless grandma (Cloris Leachman in an absolutely thankless role), while his dad is in prison for embezzlement. Willie, seeing a free ride, stays with Thurman and has a grand time having sex with his girlfriend Sue (Lauren Graham)—who has a Santa fetish—and mooching off the kid and his grandmother.
The scenes in the mall are even more depressing with Willie swearing at the kids, many of whom have really done nothing wrong other than being little kids. A scene late in the movie has Willie beating up one of Thurman's antagonists—a creep who is probably only about 13. And through it all, Willie and Marcus are more worried about being caught by mall security and the police then being thrown in jail for abuse.
The robbery scam is little more than a MacGuffin to get Willie to Phoenix so he can meet Sue (who really loves the loser) and Thurman, creating a redemptive, if dysfunctional surrogate family. Bernie Mac as chain smoking, constipated mall security chief Gin and the late John Ritter as mall manager Bob Chipeska are absolutely wasted in their roles. Like the robbery plot, they serve no purpose other than to facilitate the scatological jokes that litter the movie. In the end, the only moviegoer this horrifying creep show could appeal to is someone who hates Christmas.
