Bad Santa
Learn more about Bad Santa
| Bad Santa | |
|---|---|
| Image:Bad Santa film.jpg | |
| Directed by | Terry Zwigoff |
| Produced by | Joel and Ethan Coen |
| Written by | Glenn Ficarra John Requa |
| Starring | Billy Bob Thornton Tony Cox Bernie Mac John Ritter Lauren Graham Brett Kelly |
| Music by | David Kitay |
| Cinematography | Jamie Anderson |
| Editing by | Robert Hoffman |
| Distributed by | - USA - Dimension Films - non-USA - Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 26, 2003 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $23 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Bad Santa is a 2003 film directed by Terry Zwigoff, produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Billy Bob Thornton as the title character and Tony Cox (best known for Friday and Me, Myself and Irene) as his partner-in-crime. Bernie Mac, John Ritter, Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Ethan Phillips, Brett Kelly and Cloris Leachman are also featured.
Sheriff John Bunnell and Family Guy voice actress Alex Borstein have cameo roles.
The unrated version of the film was released on DVD in 2004 as Badder Santa. A director's cut DVD has been 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.
The story principally concerns two con men, miserable Willy (Thornton) and foulmouthed Marcus (Cox), who, each Christmas season, seek work at a different shopping mall dressed as Santa Claus and one of Santa's elves. Rather than spreading good cheer, the duo's motive is to rob each establishment, with Marcus disabling the security systems each year and Willy cracking the safe. The strategy becomes complicated when Willy encounters an 8-year-old boy who he ends up moving in with. Through their interaction, the boy (Brett Kelly) inadvertently teaches Willy the true meaning of Christmas. In addition to being a criminal, Willy is also a bitter and abusive drunk as well as a sex addict and it only seems to worsen each passing year, thus putting a bitter strain on his partnership with Marcus, who is growing frustrated with his friend's antics.
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]
Fans of the film, however, counter that it is good for those who have in some way fallen through society's cracks to have a Christmas film that reflects what Christmas really means for them. Also of delight to those disheartened with Christmas is Willy's relationship with Therman. The mainstream figures beloved by those chiding Miramax and Disney for Bad Santa are cited by many survivors of abuse as being most likely to abuse characters such as Therman.
The film was John Ritter's last live-action role—he died prior to its release—and it is dedicated to him.
[edit] External links
- Bad Santa at the Internet Movie Database
- Bad Disney - editorial in The Washington Times
