Bad Santa (2003)
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 188
Fresh: 144 | Rotten: 44
A gloriously rude and gleefully offensive black comedy, Bad Santa isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproariously funny.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 43
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 8
A gloriously rude and gleefully offensive black comedy, Bad Santa isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproariously funny.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 178,397
My Rating
Movie Info
The Christmas season just got a lot less joyous in this very dark comedy. Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) is a con man and a thief who teams up with his friend Marcus (Tony Cox), a midget, for a very special scam each year during the holiday season. Willie gets a job as Santa Claus at a shopping mall, his pal tags along as an elf, and they use their employee status to crack mall security and rob stores blind just before Christmas. However, there's one flaw to this plan -- Willie is a
Nov 26, 2003 Wide
Jun 22, 2004
$59.9M
Miramax Films
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Billy Bob Thornton
Willie T. Stokes -
Tony Cox
Marcus -
Brett Kelly (II)
Thurman Merman -
Lauren Graham
Sue -
Lauren Tom
Lois -
Bernie Mac
Gin Slagel -
John Ritter
Bob Chipeska -
Ajay Naidu
Hindustani Troublemaker -
Alex Borstein
Milwaukee Mom W/Photo -
Cloris Leachman
Grandma -
Natsuko Ohama
Pedicurist -
Ethan Phillips
Roger Merman -
Curtis Taylor
Phoenix Security Guard -
Tom McGowan
Harrison -
Lorna Scott
Milwaukee Mother -
Dave Adams
Prison Guard -
Bryan Callen
Miami Bartender -
Octavia L. Spencer
Opal -
Tonya Renee Banks
Stand In For Marcus -
Joe Bucaro III
Sgt. Mick -
Billy Gardell
Milwaukee Security Guar... -
Matt Walsh
Herb -
Peter Quartaroli
Stand In For Willie -
Ryan Pinkston
Shoplifter -
Dylan Charles
Milwaukee Bratty Kid -
Harrison Bieker
Milwaukee Boy -
Lisa Ross
Milwaukee Bartender -
Grace Calderon
Woman In Tight Pants -
Christine Pichardo
Photo Elf -
Max Van Ville
Skateboard Bully -
Bucky Dominick
Deer Hunter 3 Boy -
Georgia Eskew
Barbie Girl -
Hayden Bromberg
Fraggle-Stick Boy -
Briana Norton
Pinball Girl -
Hallie Singleton
Woman In Food Court -
Joey Saravia
Pokemon Child -
Cody Strauch
Watching Boy -
Sheriff John Bunnell
Police Chief -
Chloe Colville
Crying Girl -
Alexandra Korhan
Girl On Santa's Lap -
Michael Dansk
Stand In For Willie -
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Bad Santa Trailer & Photos
All Critics (188) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (152) | Rotten (46) | DVD (42)
Zwigoff and company wring some laughs out of it, though the tone is uniformly mean and vulgar.
Top CriticWonderfully tasteless, gloriously non-PC, admirably bilious; humourless souls should steer clear.
Bad Santa is my kind of Christmas movie -- profane, subversive, and swarming with scuzzballs.
The funniest send-up of bad Christmas karma I have ever seen.
Thornton's performance is -- there's no other word -- beautiful.
I laughed at loud at a lot of the stuff.
Too naughty for kids; nice for some grown-ups.
George Bailey never kicked Mr. Potter in the nuts.
Bad Santa is in fact the most belligerently crass and profane comedy to slither out of the studio system in at least a year--although it's also much less interesting than that sounds.
The movie revels in a gloriously pessimistic tone and manages a few brief moments of hilarity amid the satire.
Bad Santa is crude, disgusting, violent, graphic, and has a lot of unsuitable content I wouldn't recommend for a family out on Christmas, but it's a great piece of filmmaking.
Bad Santa is the most fun you'll have while watching someone destroy themselves.
It's not nearly as smart or funny as it could have been, and for me, that's the biggest lump of coal.
With Christmas mischief like this, who needs Halloween.
The movie is less about gaining the Christmas spirit than about defying the corporate ethos that hijacks and then abandons that spirit every year.
A movie that grows on you...Underneath layers of anger, sarcasm, profanity and booze, Bad Santa ultimately reveals a soft heart.
...deserves a place among treasured Christmas pictures - as it certainly provides a welcome respite from the relentless holiday cheer that generally accompanies such films.
With an open mind and a high tolerance for obscenity, Bad Santa can be a laugh-out-loud frolic. (Director's Cut)
full review in Greek
Bad Santa forme au final une comédie dépravée et grinçante dont on ne peut que savourer chaque excès avec un plaisir coupable
A delightfully obscene alternative to the usual Christmas tosh.
The script is grade Z Adam Sandler fare.
Audience Reviews for Bad Santa
Super Reviewer
I found myself laughing on many occasions, thanks to contributions from almost all the cast, especially Bernie Mac. The humour was tainted however by the language, which soon became gratuitous and puerile. Those two adjectives also describe Willie, his bad boy persona is exaggerated in many parts of the film; Willie will often needlessly erupt with a foul-mouthed tirades that soon become tiresome. I'm a fan of 'Goodfellas' and 'Scarface'; yet, oddly enough, I didn't find them gratuitous like 'Bad Santa'.
Apart from this, I'd recommend Bad Santa. It's an entertaining, politically incorrect and ultimately 'feel-good' film that puts a twist on the Christmas movie genre conventions. I think its dark humour will especially go down a treat with mid-teens who aren't getting that always nauseating 'Christmas feeling'.
Super Reviewer
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- Willie T. Stokes: What do you want?
- Pokemon Child: Pokemon!
- Willie T. Stokes: Done.
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- Willie T. Stokes: I beat the shit out of some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself. It was like I did something constructive with my life or something. I don't know. Like I accomplished something.
- Marcus: You need many years of therapy. Many, many, many, fuckin' years of therapy.
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- Willie T. Stokes: Is grandma spry?
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- Marcus: I wouldn't be diggin' in your ass!
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- Hindustani Troublemaker: Ass clown!
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- Willie T. Stokes: I'm not your fuckin' da da.
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Bad Santa
July 31, 2012:
Steve Pink Directing Bad Santa SequelBilly Bob is on board for another round of ho, ho, hos.
February 14, 2012:
Billy Bob Thornton Says Bad Santa 2 Will Film This FallHe says they're just putting the finishing touches on the script.
December 17, 2010:
Weekly Ketchup: Sequels for Bad Santa and Shakespeare in Love?As Christmas approaches, you would think Hollywood would be taking a break from big announcements,...
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