‘Bad Santa’ wishes ill will to people of all religions

Joy to the world, it’s the holiday season again! Is that enough to plunge you into complete despair? Well here it comes, just in the nick of time, a dark comedy with a character even more miserable than you are!

Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thorton), the protagonist of Bad Santa, makes Scrooge seem like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. He’s been married twice, imprisoned once, and bears the vestigial wounds of many violent confrontations. As holiday cheer prevails, Willie is sitting in a bar, all alone, surrounded by merrymakers. He’s droning on about his past. His family never celebrated Christmas. Not because they were Jewish, but because his father’s idea of a present was a punch to the back of the head. That is when he wasn’t putting out a cigarette on Willie’s neck. This has imbued Willie with a deep-seated sense of self-loathing.

Willie did get one thing of value from his father. Dear old dad taught him how to crack a safe. For the past 11 years, Willie has plied his skills in an elaborate scam. Each Christmas, working in a different town, he teams up with a midget named Marcus (Tony Cox). Together, they find jobs, working in department stores as Santa and his elf. They use their jobs to case out the store security in anticipation of cracking the safe. The only problem is that Willie hates kids. Having them sit on his lap and telling him what they want for Christmas is pure torture for him.

Even though they’re a tad underdeveloped, Bad Santa has some interesting supporting characters. In addition to Marcus, Willie’s long-suffering sidekick, the film includes a fey store manager (the late John Ritter), his chief of security (Bernie Mac), a friendless fat kid (Brett Kelly), and a comely bartender with a sexual fetish for Santas (Lauren Graham). However, the film clearly belongs to Billie Bob Thorton. He’s dead on as a sardonic Kris Kringle, spewing his bile in every single utterance. Thorton’s memorable performance is hilarious without ever compromising the film’s fundamental misanthropy. 

Bad Santa is a welcome antidote to the unavoidable tsunami of ersatz goodwill headed your way during this holiday season.

*** R (for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence) 91 minutes