Bad Santa
Year: 2003
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham & Brett Kelly
Runtime: 92 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 14/12/23
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham & Brett Kelly
Runtime: 92 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 14/12/23
I’m usually a big fan of ‘alternative’ Christmas films. Films that don’t follow the typical formula of stories about happiness and love and the true spirit of Christmas and stuff.
For so long I’d heard great things about Bad Santa, and I’m not really sure why I’d never seen it because I adore Billy Bob Thornton, and since watching Gilmore Girls I love Lauren Graham. But I finally got around to watching Bad Santa and you know what, that was one of the worst comedy films I’ve ever seen.
Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox) run a yearly scam where they work at a shopping mall as a Santa and Elf duo, then once they’ve sussed the joint out, they break into the main safe and rob them blind.
Following a failed attempt at getting out of the cycle, Willie rejoins Marcus for one more job in Arizona. But when he moves into the home of a mentally disabled child, Thurman (Brett Kelly), Willie begins to form a strange paternal bond with the boy.
There’s just so much that I didn’t like about Bad Santa that I don’t even know where to begin. But let’s start with the story. I just didn’t understand what the point of it was, like at all. The setup makes it sound like a criminal turns a corner by connecting with this child with Christmas used as the backdrop. The reality is that Willie does nothing of consequence in this film, and he doesn’t learn anything either. He’s no better of a personal the end of the film than he was at the start, he doesn’t influence the plot in any meaningful way, and he doesn’t really connect with Thurman, instead he just mocks him and shouts profanities at him.
For so long I’d heard great things about Bad Santa, and I’m not really sure why I’d never seen it because I adore Billy Bob Thornton, and since watching Gilmore Girls I love Lauren Graham. But I finally got around to watching Bad Santa and you know what, that was one of the worst comedy films I’ve ever seen.
Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox) run a yearly scam where they work at a shopping mall as a Santa and Elf duo, then once they’ve sussed the joint out, they break into the main safe and rob them blind.
Following a failed attempt at getting out of the cycle, Willie rejoins Marcus for one more job in Arizona. But when he moves into the home of a mentally disabled child, Thurman (Brett Kelly), Willie begins to form a strange paternal bond with the boy.
There’s just so much that I didn’t like about Bad Santa that I don’t even know where to begin. But let’s start with the story. I just didn’t understand what the point of it was, like at all. The setup makes it sound like a criminal turns a corner by connecting with this child with Christmas used as the backdrop. The reality is that Willie does nothing of consequence in this film, and he doesn’t learn anything either. He’s no better of a personal the end of the film than he was at the start, he doesn’t influence the plot in any meaningful way, and he doesn’t really connect with Thurman, instead he just mocks him and shouts profanities at him.
That’s my next problem with the film, the ‘humour’ if it can be called that.
The film is nothing but mean spirited and vulgar, and all of its jokes fall into one of three categories. It’s either just a long string of profanities that sounds like it was written by a fourteen-year-old, it’s racist, or it’s ableist. There are so many jokes aimed at Cox’s short stature, or Thurman’s mental handicap. Honestly if you find these jokes genuinely funny, I’m concerned. Perhaps it’s a generational thing, I was eight when this film came out, but these jokes are just cruel and painfully unfunny.
I was also really disappointed to find out that Sue (Lauren Graham) doesn’t actually have a proper character written for her. She’s the main female character of the film and her whole purpose is just to be some waitress that Willie picks up from the bar and screws a few times. She has no purpose or reason for even being there, a bit like most of the other characters I suppose. But when her whole shtick is that she’s just horny for guys in Santa costumes it just made me cringe, sink into my sofa, and try to block out her incessant screaming “fuck me, Santa!” on repeat.
I have nothing good to say about Bad Santa, it was a horrible experience to endure. There’s no story, the characters are pointless and meaningless, the jokes are racist, ablest, and generally cruel. The whole film is just so mean spirited and devoid of happiness. I’m all for going against the grain of traditional Christmas filmmaking but this is just sad and pathetic.
The film is nothing but mean spirited and vulgar, and all of its jokes fall into one of three categories. It’s either just a long string of profanities that sounds like it was written by a fourteen-year-old, it’s racist, or it’s ableist. There are so many jokes aimed at Cox’s short stature, or Thurman’s mental handicap. Honestly if you find these jokes genuinely funny, I’m concerned. Perhaps it’s a generational thing, I was eight when this film came out, but these jokes are just cruel and painfully unfunny.
I was also really disappointed to find out that Sue (Lauren Graham) doesn’t actually have a proper character written for her. She’s the main female character of the film and her whole purpose is just to be some waitress that Willie picks up from the bar and screws a few times. She has no purpose or reason for even being there, a bit like most of the other characters I suppose. But when her whole shtick is that she’s just horny for guys in Santa costumes it just made me cringe, sink into my sofa, and try to block out her incessant screaming “fuck me, Santa!” on repeat.
I have nothing good to say about Bad Santa, it was a horrible experience to endure. There’s no story, the characters are pointless and meaningless, the jokes are racist, ablest, and generally cruel. The whole film is just so mean spirited and devoid of happiness. I’m all for going against the grain of traditional Christmas filmmaking but this is just sad and pathetic.