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 If
you think… "Santa is even-tempered. Santa does not hit
children over the head who kick him. Santa does not have a three-martini
lunch. Santa wears a good deodorant."…THINK AGAIN!
'Bad
Santa' or Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) as he's known here is worse
than bad, he's wicked - wickedly funny - so wicked in fact, his
name probably ranks higher than anyone else's on the naughty list.
Actually, forget the naughty list, he's probably just going straight
to hell along with me and anyone else who couldn't help but laugh
at some of the, let's say…"choice" script in this
crass Christmas comedy.
If
you can't stand swearing (particularly the 'f' word) then forget
this film, because basically that's all the vocab here consists
of. It's not short of wildly politically incorrect gags about fat
kids either, or the vertically challenged, or alcoholics… and
we're even introduced to a barmaid (played by Lauren Graham) who
has always had a thing for Santas, along with plenty of sexual antics
that would make the real Father Christmas blush. Perhaps if I explain
that this film's been compared to the animated TV series, 'South
Park', you might get the gist?
Shame
on me though, I've got to say I found it shockingly hilarious…
well at least for about the first 20 minutes or so on its journey
into the gutter and then it just got a bit boring and I wanted the
director, Terry Zwigoff, to come up with other ways of making me
giggle.
To
be honest it's the sort of stuff that would only completely satisfy
a bunch of pubescent teens, and seeing as this film's been rated
15, you could be highly disappointed… unless you're just a
big kid yourself!
'Bad
Santa' is the story of two conmen who every Christmas descend on
a different shopping mall dressed as Santa and his elf, Marco (Tony
Cox), but rather than spreading good cheer from their grotto, their
aim is to crack the store safe.
This Kris Kringle is not only a corrupt crook, he's also a hopeless
drunk who more often than not turns up to greet the kiddies in a
comatose state, lashing his acid-tongue and behaving more like the
Grinch.
What is odd though is when Willie is befriended by an eight year
old misfit whom he refers to as 'The Kid' (played by Brett Kelly),
his looting lifestyle not only becomes complicated, but he also
starts to clean up his boozy lifestyle and miraculously begins to
look better over-night… which only makes for a drunk and disorderly
film, not a convincing performance as an alcoholic.
At times it's unfunny, lazy and predictable. Sometimes though it's
sharp, witty and pacey… a bit of a mixed bag in fairness, but
I'm sure it will weasel its way into your affections.
One thing's for sure, this film succeeds in killing just about every
seasonal tradition (but in the funniest possible way you understand),
which I suppose is inevitable in a time where Christmas has become
nothing more than uncontrollable commercialism… I mean, I'm
writing about it already for goodness sake!
Don't
miss our films section!
You know you wanna have a nosey at it!
The
views expressed on this page are those of the contributor and the
opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the BBC.
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