MOVIE - BAD SANTA - Review Rating $$$$$ (OUT OF 10)

STARRING - Billy Bob Thornton ( Willie T. Soke), Tony Cox (Marcus), Bernie Mac (Gin Slagel), Lauren Graham (Sue), John Ritter (Store manager), Brett Kelly (The Kid) & Cloris Leachman (Grandma).

DIRECTOR - Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World & Louie Bluie)

Bad Santa is an adult version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas without any redeeming charm. Bad Santa, in stark contrast to this year's other Holiday comedy Elf, is unable to sustain the potential humour of its premise from beginning to end. Bad Santa more closely resembles Intolerable Cruelty, another recent comedy that had only one mildly comedic note.

This shared failing, both films were coincidentally produced by the Coen Brothers, may have a lot to do with the fact that the central characters in these movies are so loathsome and shallow to begin with. The notion of a drunken bum playing Santa Claus may well be funny but the character has very limited comedic appeal over and beyond that.

All of the blame for Bad Santa's lack of appeal can't be placed on the weakness of the concept. The blame must be shared by screenwriters John Requa and Glenn Ficarra whose definition of humour appears to be limited to having a drunken adult repeatedly curse at children. Expecting more from the writing team that brought us the comedy classic Cats and Dogs (2001) may have been asking too much. This team also had a crack at writing the screenplay for Looney Tunes: Back In Action. One can only imagine how horrible that script was considering it was rejected in favour of the final version which was absolutely dreadful.

When Bad Santa isn't cursing at children he's involved in an unlikely relationship. Santa fetishes aside its hard to imagine young and vivacious Sue (Lauren Graham) coming back for seconds. Bad Santa's criminal exploits aren't that compelling either.

Admittedly, Bad Santa is so crass that you will find yourself laughing, at times, despite the fact it isn't actually that funny or insightful.

Bad Santa is only for adults who've already run out of Christmas cheer.

Running time - 91 minutes

Check out my TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2003 & WORST MOVIES OF 2003 lists.

Alternative Reviews:

Roger Ebert's Review

Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

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