Author: Robert Skuch Published
The worst thing you can ever learn as a child is that Santa Claus isn’t real, a revelation that will make you never want to trust your parents, who were also the Tooth Fairy, ever again. The only thing worse is meeting Billy Bob Thornton’s Willie T. Sock, a drunken mall Santa who in the 2003 film also happens to be a con man and expert safecracker, as long as he doesn’t slip into alcoholism that dulls his faculties. bad santa. I haven’t seen this movie since I was 15, when my teenage sense of humor often got the best of me, and I’m happy to say I haven’t grown up at all, because bad santa Better than I expected.
Or in the unlikely event that my 15-year-old sense of humor was more sophisticated than I thought, watching this movie as an adult works because it definitely earned its R-rating, and I’m now one of its target audiences. The truth is probably somewhere in between. bad santa It’s the kind of movie your parents don’t want you to watch but know you’ll watch it anyway. Meanwhile, you can hear them laughing in the other room, unaware that you’ve seen it while they weren’t home.
Billy Bob Thornton’s Finest Moments
I’m well aware that Billy Bob Thornton is an award-winning A-list star known for his thoughtful, dramatic performances, but when he’s asked to play his most vulgar self in a raunchy, self-funded holiday movie, he goes all-out as Willie T. Soke, a walking disaster who masquerades as a carefree mall Santa only to pry open the mall’s vaults at the end of the season and disappear with the loot.
Working with his long-time associate Marcus Skidmore (Tony Cox), Willie vows to retire and get on with things. Marcus knew Willie couldn’t control himself between seasons and was prone to violent behavior, so he counted on Willie returning for another job the following year, and that’s exactly what happened.
After a series of drunken incidents in Florida, Willie and Marcus regroup in Phoenix for another long con. They’re introduced to Bob Chipesca (John Ritter), a by-the-book mall manager who wants a clean break, and problems immediately arise when Willie gets a little too comfortable with a group of female suitors in a department store dressing room. The mall’s security chief, Kim Slagle (Bernie Mac), is surprisingly cool to Willie’s behavior, but keeps an eye on him in the background throughout the film.
Thurman Merman appears
Willy cynically spends his vacation riding his bike, eventually meeting Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), a socially awkward, overweight boy who is a frequent target of bullies. When he learns that Thurman’s parents are no longer around and that he lives in a mansion with his elderly grandmother, Willie decides to move in on his own. Thurman is as wholesome as any naive adolescent kid who still believes in Santa Claus, and he becomes the perfect foil for Willy, who we’re not even sure has a heart now.
As their friendship (if you want to call it that) develops, Willy unwittingly becomes a mentor to the child and teaches him valuable lessons about protecting yourself and recognizing your own worth. In return, Thurman continually offered to make him sandwiches because he believed that’s what a good host should do.
In between the pants-wetting incident and the drunken tantrum at the mall, Willie develops a relationship with Sue (Lauren Graham), a woman obsessed with Santa Claus but unable to see how terrifying he is. Sue and Willie start out as ugly people trying to satisfy their most basic desires, but they end up becoming de facto parents to Thurman, who has no one to celebrate the holidays with. Meanwhile, things escalate at the mall, and Kim’s behind-the-scenes investigation leads him directly into Willy and Marcus’ heist, which he wants in on.
Vulgar but with a heart of gold
As brutal as Willy’s behavior. bad santahe is not completely heartless. He does have a heroic arc, but it’s not neat or healthy. It’s too confusing. He is determined to give up his thieving lifestyle but it continues to spiral and you can tell he wants to become legal but is unable to do so in his current state. Although Thurman is naive, his criticism is surprisingly sharp when he decides to speak out, and his unwavering kindness becomes the driving force that helps Willie turn over a new leaf, even if he doesn’t realize it yet.
For a movie that features Santa Claus shouting his fuck stick to mall security, bad santa When you ignore the vulgarity and look at the basic skeleton of the story, you’ll find it to be surprisingly wholesome. I say this not as a condemnation of vulgarity, but as a celebration of vulgarity. It’s a hard line to walk, but bad santa It’s done with such ease that it feels like a family Christmas movie. Just don’t show it to your kids until they’re older, because if they repeat any of the conversations at school, you’re bound to get a call from the principal.
bad santa Now playing on Max. its sequel, Bad Santa 2 Also on Platform, but apart from Billy Bob Thornton’s scenes, it’s a much weaker film. If you want the sequel to be on the same level, you’re not missing out on much by skipping it.
