A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.
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- 1 win & 12 nominations total
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Featured reviews
An extreme end to christmas comedy genre. It's so vulgar it makes you puke. It's so dark and makes you laugh to things you never wants to laugh but you'll still laugh anyway.
It's innovative cinematic style that embeds Tarantino, Ritchie and many darkly comic film makers makes this a unique gem of a film.
Characters are amazing. Style and film making is exceptional. Still it's a cinematic experience. And a fresh one at that.
Overall - 3.5/5
It's innovative cinematic style that embeds Tarantino, Ritchie and many darkly comic film makers makes this a unique gem of a film.
Characters are amazing. Style and film making is exceptional. Still it's a cinematic experience. And a fresh one at that.
Overall - 3.5/5
I avoided this flic when it first came out due to the reviews which concentrated on the 'cynicism'and 'edgyness' of the effort. It is crude.It is rude.And is is filled with enough 4-letter words to be its own zone of bad taste. Know what else? Billy Bob Thorton is masterful as is the rest of the cast.There are no 'heroes',but Billy Bob is not exactly an anti-hero either.He portrays a broken,dysfunctional loser who holds nothing in contempt so much as himself.Desiring nothing so much as extinction,he rambles through life hating EVERYTHING. But it's Christmas,and even for losers third,fourth,fifth,or 50th chances sometimes show up.Watching Billy Bob's character 'grow-up'during the film is surprisingly heartwarming.For a broken man,he does the best he can once he allows himself to 'give-a-damm'. See this for his performance(and the rest of the cast),and be surprised.
Billy Bob Thornton has found his Josef Von Sternberg in Terry Zwigoff. As a revolting, immoral, insignificant Santa, Billy Bob is a wonder. His face is a moving, disturbing, hysterical reflection of his awareness. His life sucks. The cut from Miami to Billy Bob and his partner walking down the street in their Christmas costumes is, on its own, worth the price of admission. Terry Zwigoff has transformed the crumbs of society into a sophisticated, adult, art form. Billy Bob and his sensational young co star Brett Kelly create characters never seen before on the screen and as a consequence we cling on to their every nuance, incapable to predict what could happen next. That in itself makes Bad Santa a very welcome surprise and a great time at the movies.
I saw the trailers and knew what I was in for when I went to see Bad Santa. It's not Nice Santa or Naughty Santa, but BAAADD SANTA, horribly drunk and disorderly Santa. Rude and Crude Santa.
I laughed until tears streamed down my face.
There is a lot of sexual situations and profanity, but you have to look past it. Those sensitive to foul language should not watch this movie nor FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL. This is not a kiddie movie, but a movie made for adults.
Compared to ELF, SANTA CLAUSE, and a whole raft of other so-so Christmas related comedies, this is one of the best. Most holiday humor movies are always on the lightside with an eye to the children market during the holidays. This one ranks in there with A Christmas STORY and PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES and THE GRINCH WHO STOLE Christmas (cartoon version).
BAD SANTA is Christmas at its darkest, full of profanity, bad people, and evil deeds. But at the heart of it is a small bit of caring by one Bad Santa.
I laughed until tears streamed down my face.
There is a lot of sexual situations and profanity, but you have to look past it. Those sensitive to foul language should not watch this movie nor FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL. This is not a kiddie movie, but a movie made for adults.
Compared to ELF, SANTA CLAUSE, and a whole raft of other so-so Christmas related comedies, this is one of the best. Most holiday humor movies are always on the lightside with an eye to the children market during the holidays. This one ranks in there with A Christmas STORY and PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES and THE GRINCH WHO STOLE Christmas (cartoon version).
BAD SANTA is Christmas at its darkest, full of profanity, bad people, and evil deeds. But at the heart of it is a small bit of caring by one Bad Santa.
This is one of the best Christmas movie of all times. The casting is brilliant, and the chemistry between all the characters is very much present.
Billy Bob Thornton was especially funny as the loser in life who dons the red suit every Christmas. Just seeing Santa behaving drunken and swearing every other word tells you how different this is from the typical Christmas family friendly movies.
Bernie Mac was funny in his supporting role, and Tony Cox was OK. Billy Bob was phenomenal.
I've watched this movie twice already this Christmas season, and I loved every minute of it.
Billy Bob Thornton was especially funny as the loser in life who dons the red suit every Christmas. Just seeing Santa behaving drunken and swearing every other word tells you how different this is from the typical Christmas family friendly movies.
Bernie Mac was funny in his supporting role, and Tony Cox was OK. Billy Bob was phenomenal.
I've watched this movie twice already this Christmas season, and I loved every minute of it.
Did you know
- TriviaBilly Bob Thornton has said that he was genuinely intoxicated during some of filming. In the escalator fall scene, he actually passed out after drinking three glasses of red wine for breakfast followed by vodkas, cranberry juice, and a few Bud Lights.
- GoofsWhen Marcus turns off the surveillance cameras, he uses one button to turn off the TVs. If he just turned off the TVs, then the cameras would still be recording (but the images wouldn't be displayed in the security room).
- Crazy creditsThere is a special thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio
- Alternate versionsThe 99-minute 'Badder Santa' was assembled by the studio without any input from the director. The 88-minute 'Director's Cut' was assembled and approved by Zwigoff.
- ConnectionsEdited into Bad Santa: Deleted and Alternate Scenes (2004)
- SoundtracksNocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.2
Written by Frédéric Chopin (as Frederick Chopin)
Performed by Idil Biret, piano
Courtesy of Naxos
By arrangement with Source/Q
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Un santa no tan santo
- Filming locations
- Del Amo Fashion Center - Hawthorne Boulevard & Carson Street, Torrance, California, USA(as Saguaro Square Mall)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $23,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $60,060,328
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,500,000
- Nov 30, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $76,490,995
- Runtime
- 1h 32m(92 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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