Bad Santa

For the basketball player known as "Bad Santa", see Kenny Brunner.
Bad Santa

A scruffy dishevelled Santa Claus, standing beside a scowling man in a yellow suit, and a fat child and an Santa helper elf standing in front of them.

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Produced by John Cameron
Sarah Aubrey
Bob Weinstein
Written by Glenn Ficarra
John Requa
Starring Billy Bob Thornton
Tony Cox
Lauren Graham
Brett Kelly
Lauren Tom
John Ritter
Bernie Mac
Music by David Kitay
Cinematography Jamie Anderson
Edited by Robert Hoffman
Production
company
Tryptich Pictures
Distributed by Dimension Films
(North America)
Columbia Pictures
(Other territories)
Release dates
  • November 21, 2003 (2003-11-21)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $23 million[1]
Box office $76.5 million[1]

Bad Santa (known as Badder Santa on the unrated DVD) is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Terry Zwigoff, and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Bernie Mac, and John Ritter. This was John Ritter's last film appearance before his death on September 11, 2003. The Coen brothers are credited as executive producers. The film was released in the United States on November 21, 2003.

The film was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

An unrated version was released on DVD on March 5, 2004 and on Blu-ray Disc on November 20, 2007 as Bad(der) Santa. A director's cut DVD was released in November 2006; it features Zwigoff's cut of the film (including an audio commentary with him and the film's editor), which is three minutes shorter than the theatrical cut and ten minutes shorter than the unrated version.

A sequel, Bad Santa 2, is scheduled for release on November 23, 2016.

Plot

Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) and his dwarfed assistant Marcus (Tony Cox) are professional thieves. Every year, Willie disguises himself as a department store Santa Claus and Marcus disguises himself as an elf in order for both of them to rob shopping malls blind at night. Marcus takes his duty as an elf extremely seriously, but Willie is an alcoholic, a sex addict, and is gradually unable to perform his Santa duties appropriately with children plus likewise a diminish in his safe-cracking performance, much to Marcus' dismay. When they are hired at the fictional Saguaro Square Mall in Phoenix, the vulgar remarks made by Willie shock the prudish mall manager Bob Chipeska (John Ritter), who brings it to the attention of security chief Gin Slagel (Bernie Mac).

At the mall, Willie is visited by Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), a friendly but exceedingly naive and gullible, overweight boy who thinks Willie is really Santa. Thurman is a constant target of bullying by a teenage gang of skateboarders. At a bar, Willie meets Sue (Lauren Graham), a woman with a Santa Claus fetish, and they begin a sexual relationship. Willie is harassed by a man in the bar, but Thurman intervenes. Willie gives Thurman a ride home, then enters the boy's house where he lives with his senile grandmother (Cloris Leachman). Thurman reveals that his mother died, and his father, Roger, is away "exploring mountains" (meaning he is actually in jail for embezzlement) until next year. Willie tricks Thurman into letting him steal from the house safe and steals a BMW owned by Thurman's father.

Bob informs Gin that he overheard Willie having sex with a woman in a mall dressing room; Gin starts to investigate. Willie goes to his motel room and sees it being raided, causing him to take advantage of Thurman's naivete and live in his house, much to Thurman's delight. The next day, Marcus gets angry at Willie for taking advantage of Thurman, and states his disapproval of Willie's sex addiction when Willie makes a rude remark about Thurman's grandmother.

Gin's investigation of Willie includes visiting Thurman's imprisoned father, who reveals that Willie is staying with Thurman illegally. He confronts Willie at the mall, and takes him and Marcus to a bar. There, he reveals that he has figured out their plan, blackmailing them for half of the cut to keep silent.

Willie attempts to commit suicide by inhaling vehicle exhaust fumes. He gives Thurman a letter to give to the police, confessing all his misdeeds and information about a heist that will take place in the mall on Christmas Eve. Willie notices Thurman's black eye, which persuades him to make an example of the skateboarding bullies. The next day, he confronts and beats up the gang's leader, frightening the other members into stopping their acts towards Thurman. A renewed sense of purpose for Willie has him attempt to train Thurman in boxing and self-defense.

Enraged at Gin for blackmailing him, Marcus and his wife Lois (Lauren Tom) set up a trap for Gin, feigning needing a jump start for their vehicle from Gin's. Lois hits Gin with the car, then Marcus kills him.

On Christmas Eve, when the heist is almost complete, Willie goes to get Thurman a pink stuffed elephant that he had wanted for Christmas. Just as he gets the elephant, Marcus reveals to Willie that he intends to kill him, fed up with his increasing carelessness. Lois tells him to hurry up and kill Willie so they can get away with the money and merchandise. But just as Marcus is about to shoot Willie, the police swarm the trio, tipped off by the letter Willie gave to Thurman. When Marcus opens fire, the police shoot at him and Willie flees. Determined to give Thurman his present, he leads the police on a chase to Thurman's house, ignoring orders to freeze. He is repeatedly shot on Thurman's porch, but survives.

The epilogue is told through a letter from Willie, who is in a hospital recovering. He expresses his gratitude for Thurman in giving the letter to the police and his name was cleared of unarmed robbery adding that he (Willie) will be working for the police as a sensitivity counselor. Shooting an unarmed Santa embarrassed the police, and Sue is granted guardianship over Thurman and his house until Thurman's father, Roger, is released. Willie also explains that Marcus (identified as Santa's Little Helper) and Lois are doing time behind bars for their actions, while expressing hope Roger is wise to avoid the two. When the lead skateboard bully harasses Thurman again, Thurman finally stands up to him by kicking him hard in the crotch and riding his bike away while flipping off the downed bully.

Cast

Production

Bad Santa, Zwigoff's fourth film, was his most mainstream, following the limited releases of Crumb and Ghost World. The original screenplay was written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Prior to filming, Ethan and Joel Coen and Zwigoff did rewrites on the script,[3] although by WGA rules, they were uncredited.

Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray[4][5] were both interested in playing the role of Willie, but were already filming Something's Gotta Give and Lost in Translation, respectively.

In an interview in 2012, Zwigoff revealed the difficulty of the films production, explaining how he and the writers tried to get the tone of the script right and also revealing creative differences between himself, the Coen Brothers and Bob and Harvey Weinstein. The Coen Brothers didn't agree with the casting of Tony Cox as Marcus, and the Weinsteins filmed additional sequences with another director without Zwigoff's approval, in order to make the film more mainstream.[6]

Music

The following pieces of music were used in the film:[7]

Reception

An editorial in The Washington Times likened the movie to an "evil twin" of Miracle on 34th Street and chided The Walt Disney Company for allowing such a beloved figure as Santa Claus to be trashed by Miramax, then a Disney subsidiary.[8]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 78% "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 213 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A gloriously rude and gleefully offensive black comedy, Bad Santa isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproariously funny".[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3½ stars out of four.[11]

Billy Bob Thornton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture, but lost both awards to Bill Murray of Lost in Translation.

Box office

The film grossed over $60 million domestically and more than $76 million in total worldwide.[1]

Home media

In the U.S, a theatrical version, an unrated version, a director's cut and a Blu-ray Disc version (which includes unrated and director's cut) have all been released. According to dvdtown.com, the special features for the theatrical cut of the film included: a behind-the-scenes special, outtakes, and deleted scenes. The unrated edition was released June 22, 2004 and had all of the above plus a 'Badder Santa' gag reel and over seven minutes of unseen footage. The director's cut was released October 10, 2006 and contained the new version of the film (as Zwigoff originally intended it). It also had a new commentary (in addition to the rest of the features: outtakes, deleted/alternate scenes, and the behind-the-scenes feature). The Blu-ray Disc version released November 20, 2007 contained the unrated version and the director's cut of the movie. Among its special features were director's commentary, an interview with Zwigoff and editor Robert Hoffmann, along with other features ported over from the previous unrated version's release in addition to a showcase feature.

Sequel

Main article: Bad Santa 2

On October 29, 2015, it was announced that Billy Bob Thornton would return for Bad Santa 2, and that filming would begin in Montreal in January 2016 for a scheduled release of Christmas 2016.[12] On November 3, 2015, it was announced that Mean Girls director Mark Waters would direct the film.[13] On November 19, 2015, it was announced that Kathy Bates would join the cast as Willie's mother, and that Brett Kelly and Tony Cox would reprise their roles from the first film.[14] On December 21, 2015, it was announced that Bad Santa 2 would be released on November 23, 2016.[15] On January 6, 2016, Christina Hendricks joined the cast.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bad Santa (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  2. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Bad Santa". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  3. ↑ Taylor, Drew. "Terry Zwigoff Talks Battling Over 'Bad Santa,' His Preferred Director's Cut & Much More In Candid Interview". Indiewire. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Locke, Greg W. (26 August 2011). "The Top 25 Roles Bill Murray Didn’t Take". Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Evans, Bradford (17 February 2011). "The Lost Roles of Bill Murray". Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Drew (2014-12-20). "Terry Zwigoff Talks Battling Over 'Bad Santa,' His Preferred Director's Cut & Much More In Candid Interview". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  7. ↑ Bad Santa (2003) – Soundtrack
  8. ↑ "Bad Disney". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2003-11-20.
  9. ↑ Bad Santa at Rotten Tomatoes
  10. ↑ Bad Santa at Metacritic
  11. ↑ "Bad Santa :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. 2003-11-26. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  12. ↑ McNary, Dave (2015-10-29). "Billy Bob Thornton Returning in ‘Bad Santa 2’". Variety. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  13. ↑ Gettell, Oliver (2015-11-03). "Mean Girls director Mark Waters to helm Bad Santa 2". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  14. ↑ Kit, Borys (2015-11-19). "Kathy Bates Joins Billy Bob Thornton in 'Bad Santa 2' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  15. ↑ "'Bad Santa 2' to Hit Theaters in Time for Holidays". Variety. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Christina Hendricks Joins Billy Bob Thornton in 'Bad Santa 2'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 7, 2016.

External links

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