If ever there were a case for a modern anti-hero, it would be Willie T. Soke, Billy Bob Thorton’s crass, miserable, and pathetic character from Terry Zwigoff’s “Bad Santa,” Willie’s certainly the most miserable person you’ve ever seen. An alcoholic who spends his days at children’s malls, dressed as Santa, and his nights chain smoking cigarettes and puking in garbage cans in dark alleys, he quickly makes the short list for loser of the year. That Thorton is able to play him with a degree of class, and that “Bad Santa” manages to actually pull at your heartstrings may be the uncanniest accomplishment of all. For whatever reason, “Bad Santa” works. It’s disturbing, gross, and unforgiving…and you’ll love every minute of it.
Willie’s sole compatriot in misery is Marcus (Tony Cox, “Me, Myself, and Irene,” a pint-sized man who has been running the same scam with Willie year after year: the two pose as Santa and his elf at local Christmas malls by day. By night, they rob the place blind, making tidy sums of money to hold them over for the next year. However, there’s a problem. Marcus has grown tired of Willie’s increasing unpredictability, unsure of whether he will have sex with a woman in the mall’s dressing room or pee himself while children are telling him what they want for Christmas (he does both, in equal measure). However, the two have history, and Marcus calls Willie shortly before Christmas, and the two head to Phoenix to attempt to pull off yet another heist.
It’s hard to characterize “Bad Santa” as a full-fledged comedy, though it does deliver some laugh out loud lines, although almost entirely at Willie’s detriment. Jokes at Willie’s clear alcoholism are consistent throughout, such as when he passes out in the mall, drunk, or wakes up in the morning and scoffs at a glass of orange juice handed to him, “what’s in it?” However, the film also jumps in and out of reality like a disjointed dream, as ‘Santa’ finds himself in one bizarre situation after another. One minute he’s drinking liquor in his dressing room at the mall, another he’s getting drunk at a bar and having sex in the front seat of his car with a beautiful woman (Lauren Graham, TV’s “Gilmore Girls”), and the next he’s befriended a nerdy kid nobody likes and slowly learns to be the kid’s role model.
Some familiar characters come in to support “Bad Santa” in unlikely places. For instance, we have John Ritter (who would die later that same year), playing a mall manager who seems to want to faint at the mere mention of anything tawdry or indecent. Cast alongside him, Bernie Mac plays ‘Gin’ a security guard for the mall who takes an unhealthy interest in Willie and Marcus’ arrival. Unfortunately, the characters come in as little more than distractions. Ritter’s Bob Chipeska is intent on getting Willie fired for simply being Willie, while Mac’s Gin seems not to care at all. God knows Willie and Marcus should have been in cuffs long ago; however the movie has different plans, both for them and for us.
A large chunk of the heart of “Bad Santa” belongs to the character dubbed simply ‘The Kid,’ here played by Brett Kelly (TV’s “Masters of Horror”), who is probably the only character more pathetic than Willie at the film’s onset. However, a series of events cause him to grow on us, from The Kid rescuing Willie from a hateful stranger (“Office Space’s” Ajay Naidu), showing Willie his favorite Christmas item, a Nativity calendar, and making Willie a wooden pickle as a Christmas present. Sometimes The Kid is used as comic relief, as when he runs downstairs screaming “I cut my hand” and we see a gaping wound that clearly needs an ER visit. However, other scenes are tenderer and lend the film credit, as we learn he cut his hand while making Willie’s present.
Of course Billy Bob Thorton, who has appeared in dozens of movies showing capable performances such as “Sling Blade” and “A Simple Plan,” does a good job here in making Willie a likable character. That’s a testament. In less capable hands, both Willie and “Bad Santa” had the ability to sink into the misery that accompanies gross-out films with no direction. “Bad Santa” is about a guy who grows up and learns to hate the world; however, along the way he finds just a few things that may teach him things may not be as awful as he thought. “You need therapy. Years, and years of therapy,” Marcus chastises him after another drunken bout. Willie often finds that therapy at the bottom of a bottle. However he also finds it in unlikely places; and by the time he discovers it fully, right before the movie’s outrageous climax, audiences will have been rooting for it all along.
“Bad Santa” is a bizarre film. Is it a Christmas classic? I guess that’s up to you. Most of its run-time is littered with ‘f-bombs’ and crassness, sandwiched in-between alcoholism and thievery. But the film is about more. “Bad Santa” exists to paint a portrayal of a character we would never in a million years go out of our way to root for, but begin doing so nonetheless. It’s funny in places, and dramatic in others. A bit of an annoying and confused last act ending pulls its quality down slightly, but the film still manages to deliver a wrap-up that doesn’t step on audience’s nerves who have stuck through to the end. Should “Bad Santa” find its way into your hands this Christmas, you’ll doubtless have a good time – provided the kids are tucked safely away in bed.
– by Mark Ziobro
4 Comments
One of my favourite Christmas movies.
Good review. Even when the movie seems like it’s going to get soft and lose its edge, somehow, it steers clear of convention and keeps the harsh laughs coming, as mean as they may be.
Thanks Dan. Yeah, the movie definitely changes your idea of a standard comedy. It can be harsh, but it’s also somehow endearing at parts. Thorton does an amazing job.
This is a movie I always enjoy watching over the Christmas period, although not my favourite Festive film, it is a great one. Billy Bob Thornton stands out for me.