Bad Santa
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| Bad Santa | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Terry Zwigoff |
| Produced by | John Cameron Ethan Coen Joel Coen Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein |
| Written by | Glenn Ficarra John Regua uncredited: Joel Coen Ethan Coen Terry Zwigoff |
| Starring | Billy Bob Thornton Tony Cox Brett Kelly Lauren Graham Lauren Tom Bernie Mac John Ritter |
| Music by | David Kitay |
| Cinematography | Jamie Anderson |
| Editing by | Robert Hoffman |
| Distributed by | Dimension Films Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 26, 2003 |
| Running time | Theatrical cut 91 min. Director's cut 88 min. Unrated cut 98 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Gross revenue | $60,057,639 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Bad Santa is a Golden Globe-nominated 2003 comedy film directed by Terry Zwigoff, produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Billy Bob Thornton as the title character and Tony Cox as his partner-in-crime. Bernie Mac, John Ritter (in his final live-action film), Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Ethan Phillips, Brett Kelly and Cloris Leachman are also featured.
The unrated version of the film was released on DVD in 2004 and on high-definition Blu-ray Disc November 20, 2007 as Badder Santa (it is common to differentiate versions with a varied name (eg, Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Bueller, Bueller Edition)). A director's cut DVD was released in November 2006. It features director Terry Zwigoff's cut of the film (including an audio commentary with him and the film's editor), but is three minutes shorter than the theatrical cut and ten minutes shorter than the unrated version.
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[edit] Production
Bad Santa was Terry Zwigoff's fourth film and was his most mainstream, following the very limited releases of Crumb and Ghost World. The original screenplay was written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who had previously been known for the 2001 family film Cats and Dogs. They would later go on to, alongside Bill Lancaster (the original screenwriter although has since died but is still credited with), writing the screenplay for the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears, also starring Billy Bob Thornton. Prior to filming, producers Ethan and Joel Coen and director Terry Zwigoff did re-writes on the script, though they went uncredited by WGA rules.
Several different actors interested in the role of Willie were unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts. Among them were Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray, who were already filming Something's Gotta Give and Lost in Translation, respectively. Coincidentally, Nicholson, Murray and Thornton all received Golden Globe nominations that same year for their roles, with Murray winning the award.
[edit] Plot
The film begins in a bar on a December night in Milwaukee, where the viewer is introduced to Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a bitter, lonely alcoholic. Willie works the holiday seasons as a mall Santa along with his dwarf friend Marcus (Tony Cox), who works as the Santa elf. Every Christmas Eve, the duo disables the security alarm after the mall closes and they then rob the mall safe. Afterwards, Marcus lives with his wife Lois (Lauren Tom) while Willie goes to Miami and wastes all his money on booze.
At the new mall they plan to steal from, Willie's alcoholic rants arouse the suspicion of mall manager Bob Chipeska (John Ritter), who asks security chief Gin (Bernie Mac) to investigate. Meanwhile, Willie meets bartender Sue (Lauren Graham) and they begin a relationship. He also meets a pudgy, pre-teen boy, whom he nicknames the Kid (Brett Kelly), during their visit in the mall. When he leaves the bar and is confronted by a hostile man (Ajay Naidu), the Kid stops the man from beating up Willie after the guy falsely accuses Willie of being gay. A lonely, unpopular boy, the Kid lives with his senile grandmother (Cloris Leachman); his mother is dead and his father is in prison for embezzlement. After taking the Kid home to his mansion, Willie breaks into the Kid's father's safe, takes all the money inside, 'borrows' his father's BMW and winds up spending the money on more booze.
Chipeska hears Willie having sex with an overweight woman in a changing room in the mall and tries to fire him. However, Willie and Marcus threaten to sue Chipeska for discrimination against African-American "little people" like Marcus if they are fired, and Chipeska reconsiders. Marcus is irritated by Willie's reckless behavior, including his new car, his alcoholism, and flirtatiousness with customers and young women. When Gin breaks into Willie's motel room posing as a police officer, Willie takes up residence with the Kid, which proves to be quite a convenience. During his time spent with the Kid, Willie starts to show small signs of kindness, offering advice when the Kid is beaten by bullies and playing checkers with the Kid.
Willie has a series of incidents in the mall in-between his time spent with the Kid and Sue. During one of his lunch breaks, he yells at a mother and son after Marcus insults him. Marcus is continually disgusted by how unreliable Willie has become. Gin meanwhile, discovers the history of Marcus and Willie and he demands half of the money and merchandise they plan to steal, creating further friction between Willie and Marcus. Willie goes to the mall drunk the next day and destroys a reindeer display in a drunken rage, shocking the customers. Marcus and Gin try to cover it up but get into an argument. The next day, Willie tries to commit suicide, giving the Kid a letter to give to the police when they would come to collect his corpse, explaining the mall robbery. He is motivated to live when he sees how the bullies have blackened the Kid's eye. He beats up the lead bully (Max Van Ville) as his friends run away and then gives the Kid a very unsuccessful boxing lesson.
The Kid gives Willie a Christmas present in advance: a wooden pickle he bloodied when he cut himself carving it. He then gets a low-grade report card (all C's, with the exception of one B), hoping to make Willie happy (from this Willie learns the Kid's name: Thurman Merman). Thurman asks for a pink stuffed elephant this year, since he hadn't received any presents for the past two years.
That night, Marcus and Lois kill Gin when he refuses to take less than half the money. On Christmas Eve, Sue helps Willie and Thurman decorate their house for Christmas. Willie leaves to rob the mall with Marcus. After cracking the safe, Willie takes a stuffed elephant for Thurman. However, Marcus produces a gun and reveals that he is going to kill Willie because he finally has become too unreliable for the job. Fortunately for Willie, the police arrive, having been tipped off by Willie's letter which Thurman gave to them. Willie flees and speeds to Thurman's house in order to give him his present. He arrives at the house and is shot eight times by the police in front of the whole neighborhood.
Afterwards, Thurman gets his present and it is revealed that Willie has survived and will avoid prison time because of the letter he gave the police, and because "the Phoenix police department shooting an unarmed Santa Claus in front of children was more fucked up than Rodney King." Marcus and Lois are both arrested and in prison. Willie, Sue and Thurman will form a kind of family upon Willie's release from the hospital as Sue is legally given guardianship of Thurman. Furthermore, in an ironic twist of events, Willie is to be made a sensitivity trainer for the police department, so that "incidences such as [Willie getting shot] will never again embarrass the force."
In the final scene, Thurman wears a shirt that Willie sent him which says on the back, "Shit happens when you party naked" together with his original present. When Thurman goes out for a bike ride, the head bully appears and starts to taunt Thurman by threatening to steal his bike. But Thurman kicks him in the crotch and rides off giving the bully the middle finger.
[edit] Cast
- Billy Bob Thornton as Willie T. Stokes
- Tony Cox as Marcus
- Brett Kelly as Thurman Merman / The Kid
- Lauren Graham as Sue
- Lauren Tom as Lois
- Bernie Mac as Gin Slagel
- John Ritter as Bob Chipeska
- Jake Caspersen as The Kid-back up
[edit] Others
- Alex Borstein as Milwaukee Mom with Photo
- Tom McGowan as Harrison
- Max Van Ville as Skateboard Bully
- Ryan Pinkston as Shoplifter
- Dylan Cash as Kid on Bike
- Cloris Leachman as Grandma
- John Bunnell as Police Chief
[edit] Reception
The movie attracted bad publicity before its release from critics who 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 its Miramax subsidiary. [1]
Ultimately, the film maintains a rating of 7.2 at the Internet Movie Database, an aggregate "Certified Fresh" rating of 75% at Rotten Tomatoes, and a positive 3 1/2 stars out of four by critic Roger Ebert. The film was also a box office success grossing over $60 million at the US box office.
This was John Ritter's last live-action role—he died two months before the release—and it is dedicated in his memory.
In The Republic Of Ireland the "16" certificate was introduced in December 2004 after complaints about the "15PG" certificate being awarded to Bad Santa,which also led to the change from "12PG" to "12A" and "15PG" to "15A". Ironically, out of all the many complaints made to talk shows, cinemas, etc., the Irish Film Censor's Office itself only received two.
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] External links
- Bad Santa at the Internet Movie Database
- GreenCine Daily interview with Zwigoff about the "director's cut"
- Billy Bob Thornton Audio Interview (US) at MrMedia.com
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