Retro Film Review: Bad Santa (2003)
The author of this review belongs to those who are increasingly troubled by the contemporary reinterpretation of Christmas. What used to be a joyous occasion became an overwhelming emotional and financial burden, veering into a hyper-commercial spectacle that has nothing to do with someone’s culture or religion. Hollywood has contributed a lot to those trends, so I was pleased to learn about at least one of its films that treated this new concept of Christmas subversively. Regrettably, Bad Santa, 2003 black comedy directed by Terry Zwigoff, failed to meet expectations.
The main character of the film is Willie Stoke (played by Billy Bob Thornton), man who earns his living working as a Santa Claus in department stores. He is, however, far from the usual image of Santa Claus – he indulges in heavy drinking on the job, uses profanity while talking with children, and has a habit of engaging with unconventional sexual practices with overweight women. His latest job brings him to Phoenix where Bob Chipesca (played by John Ritter), the store manager, doesn’t dare firing him because Willie’s partner and best friend happens to be Marcus (played by Tony Cox), black elf-playing midget whose removal might bring bad publicity. The department store's security chief, Gin (portrayed by Bernie Mac), is more perceptive and discovers that Willie and Marcus are duo of career criminals who use their disguise to rob stores during Christmas. While Gin wants to use this information in order to obtain part of their future loot, two new characters enter Willie’s life - Sue (played by Lauren Graham), a barmaid with a Santa fetish, and Thurman Merman (portrayed by Brett Kelly), an intellectually challenged 8-year-old boy who sees Willie as surrogate father and, apparently abandoned by parents, invites him into their luxurious home,.
The concept behind Bad Santa is brilliant and its brilliance lies in Willie's character embodying a stark contrast to the traditional Christmas virtues of goodwill, family values, and charity. The plot serves as a metaphorical critique of the crass materialism that has overshadowed the holiday's spiritual essence. However, the film loses its subversive edge midway as writers Glen Ficcara and John Requa struggle to conclude the narrative without resorting to familiar Hollywood clichés. So, the despicable protagonist falls in love in beautiful woman and befriends little child who serves as tool of his ultimate redemption. The promising start of the film is ruined by weak and predictable ending.
While Bad Santa ultimately disappoints as a film, that can’t be said of acting performances. Billy Bob Thornton is fascinating in the role of loser who is anything but lovable, but whose character neverthless glues audience to the screen. Tony Cox is also good, as well as John Ritter in the his last film role, finished shortly before his death. But this fine acting, and occasional good joke at the beginning, can’t hide the fact that Bad Santa is one of those few Hollywood films that live to their titles. Bad Santa nevertheless had good box office and generally positive review, unlike its 2019 sequel titled Bad Santa 2.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
(Note: Original version of the review is available here.)
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