1. Plot

2. Cast

3. Production

4. Reception
    Box office 

5. Home media {{anchor|DVD|Video}}

6. Sequel

7. References

8. External links

• Billy Bob Thornton
• Tony Cox
• Lauren Graham
• Brett Kelly
• Lauren Tom
• John Ritter
• Bernie Mac

An unrated version was released on DVD on March 5, 2004 and on Blu-ray Disc on November 20, 2007 as Bad(der) Santa. A director's cut DVD was released in November 2006; it features Zwigoff's cut of the film (including an audio commentary with him and the film's editor), which is three minutes shorter than the theatrical cut and ten minutes shorter than the unrated version. A sequel, Bad Santa 2, was released on November 23, 2016.

Plot

Willie T. Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) and his dwarf assistant Marcus Skidmore (Tony Cox) are professional thieves. Every year, Willie gets a job as a department store Santa Claus and Marcus as an elf to rob shopping malls at night, with Marcus' wife Lois (Lauren Tom) as their getaway driver. Marcus takes his elf duties seriously, but Willie, a sex-addicted alcoholic, is gradually unable to perform with children, also affecting his safe-cracking abilities. When they are hired at the Saguaro Square Mall in Phoenix, Willie’s vulgarity shocks the prudish mall manager Bob Chipeska (John Ritter), who brings them to the attention of security chief Gin Slagel (Bernie Mac).

At the mall, Willie is visited by Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), a friendly but exceedingly gullible, overweight boy who assumes Willie is really Santa, and is constantly bullied by a teenage gang of skateboarders. At a bar, Willie meets Sue (Lauren Graham), a woman with a Santa Claus fetish, and they begin a sexual relationship. Willie is harassed by a man in the bar, but Thurman intervenes. Willie gives Thurman a ride home, where he lives with his senile grandmother (Cloris Leachman). Thurman reveals that his mother died and his father, Roger, is "exploring mountains"—actually in jail for embezzlement. Willie tricks Thurman into letting him rob the house safe and steal Roger’s BMW 740iL (E38).

Bob informs Gin that he overheard Willie having sex in a dressing room and Gin starts to investigate. Willie sees his motel room being raided, and moves in to Thurman’s house, much to Thurman's delight. Marcus is angry at Willie for taking advantage of Thurman, and states his disapproval of Willie's sex addiction when Willie makes a rude remark about Thurman's grandmother.

Gin visits Roger, who indirectly reveals that Willie is staying with Thurman illegally. Gin confronts Willie and Marcus at the mall, and takes them to a bar. There, he reveals that he has figured out their plan, and blackmails them for half the score to keep silent. Willie and Marcus’ partnership begins to falter, further exacerbated when Willie shows up to work drunk and destroys the Santa attraction, to Marcus' and Gin's shock.

Willie attempts suicide by inhaling vehicle exhaust fumes. He gives Thurman a letter to give to the police, confessing his misdeeds and the heist planned for Christmas Eve. Willie notices Thurman's black eye, and abandons the suicide attempt to confront the skateboarders; he beats up their leader, intimidating them into leaving Thurman alone.

Furious at Gin’s blackmail, Marcus and Lois set a trap for him. Feigning the need to jump start their vehicle, Lois hits Gin with the car, and Marcus kills him via electrocution.

Willie and Thurman prepare for the approaching holiday with help from Sue. On Christmas Eve, Willie, Marcus, and Lois burglarize the mall. Willie gets a pink stuffed elephant Thurman had wanted for Christmas. Marcus reveals to Willie that he intends to kill him, fed up with his increasing carelessness. Just as Marcus is about to shoot Willie, the police swarm in, tipped off by the letter Willie gave Thurman. Marcus opens fire and the police shoot back, and Willie flees. Determined to give Thurman his present, he leads the police on a chase to Thurman's house, ignoring their orders to freeze. He is shot repeatedly on Thurman's porch, but survives.

The epilogue is told through a letter from Willie, recovering in the hospital. He expresses his gratitude to Thurman, and reveals that he was cleared of the robbery—the shooting of an unarmed Santa embarrassed the police—and will be working for the police as a sensitivity counselor. Sue is granted guardianship over Thurman and his house until his father’s release. Marcus and Lois are in prison; Willie hopes Roger will avoid them. Willie ends the letter by telling Thurman that he should be out of the hospital soon and to be ready for his return. When the lead skateboard bully harasses Thurman again, Thurman finally stands up to him by kicking him hard in the crotch and riding away on his bike giving the finger.

Cast

• Billy Bob Thornton as Willie T. Soke
• Tony Cox as Marcus Skidmore
• Brett Kelly as Thurman Merman
• Bernie Mac as Gin Slagel
• Lauren Graham as Sue
• John Ritter as Bob Chipeska
• Lauren Tom as Lois Skidmore
• Cloris Leachman as Granny
• Octavia Spencer as Opal
• Alex Borstein as Milwaukee mom
• Billy Gardell as Milwaukee Security Guard
• Bryan Callen as Miami bartender
• Tom McGowan as Harrison
• Ajay Naidu as Hindustani Troublemaker
• Ethan Phillips as Roger Merman
• Matt Walsh as Herb
• Max Van Ville as Skateboard Bully
• Ryan Pinkston as shoplifter
• Lonnie Magargle as Phoenix Security Guard
• Sheriff John Bunnell as Phoenix Police Chief
• Kerry Rossall as Policeman

Production

Bad Santa, Zwigoff's fourth film, was his most mainstream, following the limited releases of Crumb and Ghost World. The original screenplay was written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Prior to filming, Ethan and Joel Coen and Zwigoff did rewrites on the script,^[3] although by WGA rules, they were uncredited.

Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray^[4][5] were both interested in playing the role of Willie, but were already filming Something's Gotta Give and Lost in Translation, respectively.{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}}

In an interview in 2012, Zwigoff revealed the difficulty of the film's production, explaining how he and the writers tried to get the tone of the script right and also revealing creative differences between himself, the Coen Brothers and Bob and Harvey Weinstein. The Coen Brothers didn't agree with the casting of Tony Cox as Marcus, and the Weinsteins filmed additional sequences with another director without Zwigoff's approval, in order to make the film more mainstream.^[6]

Reception

An editorial in The Washington Times 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 Miramax, then a Disney subsidiary.^[7]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 78% rating, based on 213 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10.^[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[10]

Box office

The film grossed over $60 million domestically and more than $76 million in total worldwide.^[1]

Home media {{anchor|DVD|Video}}

In the U.S, a theatrical version, an unrated version, a director's cut and a Blu-ray Disc version (which includes unrated and director's cut) have all been released. According to dvdtown.com, the special features for the theatrical cut of the film included: a behind-the-scenes special, outtakes, and deleted scenes. The unrated edition was released June 22, 2004 and had all of the above plus a 'Badder Santa' gag reel and over seven minutes of unseen footage. The director's cut was released October 10, 2006 and contained the new version of the film (as Zwigoff originally intended it). It also had a new commentary (in addition to the rest of the features: outtakes, deleted/alternate scenes, and the behind-the-scenes feature). The Blu-ray Disc version released November 20, 2007 contained the unrated version and the director's cut of the movie. Among its special features were director's commentary, an interview with Zwigoff and editor Robert Hoffmann, along with other features ported over from the previous unrated version's release in addition to a showcase feature.{{citation needed |date=July 2016}}

Sequel

On October 29, 2015, it was announced that Billy Bob Thornton would return for Bad Santa 2, and that filming would begin in Montreal in January 2016 for a scheduled release of Christmas 2016.^[11] On November 3, 2015, it was announced that Mean Girls director Mark Waters would direct the film.^[12] On November 19, 2015, it was announced that Kathy Bates would join the cast as Willie's mother, and that Brett Kelly and Tony Cox would reprise their roles from the first film.^[13] On December 21, 2015, it was announced that Bad Santa 2 would be released on November 23, 2016.^[14] On January 6, 2016, Christina Hendricks joined the cast.^[15]

References

External links

• {{IMDb title|0307987|Bad Santa}}
• {{AllRovi movie|285775|Bad Santa}}
• {{Mojo title|badsanta|Bad Santa}}

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