Bad Santa
| Bad Santa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Eric Hwang |
| Written by | Glenn Ficarra John Requa |
| Produced by | Joel and Ethan Coen |
| Starring | Billy Bob Thornton Eric Hwang Bernie Mac John Ritter Lauren Graham Korean |
| Cinematography | Eric Hwang |
| Edited by | Eric Hwang |
| Music by | Eric Hwang |
| Distributed by | - USA - Dimension Films - non-USA - Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | November 26, 2003 |
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Language | English |
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.
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 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.
Production
Bad Santa was Terry Zwigoff's fourth film and was by far his most mainstream, following the very limited releases of Crumb and Ghost World. The screenplay was written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who had previously been known for the 2001 family film Cats & Dogs. They would later go on to, alongside Bill Lancaster (the original screenwriter although has since died but is still credited with), writing the screenplay for the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears, also starring Billy Bob Thornton.
The casting directors experienced a bit of poor timing, as several different actors interested in the role of Willie were unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts. Among them were Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray, who were already filming Something's Gotta Give and Lost in Translation, respectively. Ironically, Nicholson, Murray and Thornton all received Golden Globe nominations that same year for their roles, with Murray winning the award.
Plot
The film begins in a bar on a cold December night, where the viewer is introduced to Willie T. Soke (Thornton), a bitter, lonely forty year-old man and lifelong alcoholic. Willie works the Holiday seasons as a mall Santa along with his dwarf friend Marcus (Cox), who works as the Santa elf. Every Christmas eve, the duo trip the security alarm after closing and rob the mall safe. Afterwards, Marcus lives with his prostitute wife Lois while Willie goes to Miami and spends all his money on beer. This coming year, the location to rob is Phoenix, Arizona.
Willie's alcoholic rantings arouse the suspicion of store manager Bob Chipeska (Ritter), who tells security guard Gin (Mac) to investigate. Willie meets bartender Sue (Graham), with whom he begins a relationship. He later meets a pudgy pre-teen whom he nicknames the Kid (Kelly) during their visit in the mall. A lonely, unpopular boy, the Kid lives with his senile grandmother; his mother is dead and his father is in prison for embezzlement. Willie robs the Kid's safe and borrows his father's car, spending the money on more booze.
Chipeska catches Willie having sex in the mall and tries to fire him; however, Willie and Marcus threaten to sue Chipeska for discrimination against midgets like Marcus if they are fired. Marcus is irritated by Willie's risky behavior, including his new car and flirting with every customer. When Gin investigates Willie's motel room, Willie takes up residence with the Kid, which proves to be quite a convenience. During his time spent with the Kid, Willie opens up a little and starts to show small signs of kindness, such as offering advice when the Kid is beaten by bullies.
Willie has a series of incidences in the mall in-between his time spent with the Kid and Sue. Marcus is continuously disgusted by how unreliable Willie is. Gin soon realizes what the two are up to; he demands half of the money and merchandise they steal this coming Christmas Eve, which causes further friction between Willie and Marcus. Willie soon has a drunken fit in the mall, destroying a reindeer display and disturbing the customers. Marcus and Gin try to cover it up but get into an argument; that night, Willie tries to commit suicide, giving the Kid a letter to give to the police, which explains everything about the mall robbing. He stops when he sees how the bullies have blackened the Kid's eye. He beats the bullies up and then gives the Kid an unsuccessful boxing lesson.
The Kid then gives Willie a Christmas present: A wooden pickel he carved himself. He then gets a low-grade report card (all Cs, or 65%), hoping to make Willie happy (It is here that Willie learns his name: Thurman Merman). Thurman asks for a stuffed elephant this year, since he didn't receive any presents over the past two years.
That night, Marcus and Lois kill Gin when he refuses to take less than half the money. On Christmas Eve, Sue helps Willie and Thurman decorate their house for Christmas. Willie leaves to rob the mall with Marcus; after cracking the safe, Willie takes a stuffed elephant for Thurman. Marcus then appears with a gun, and reveals that Willie must now be killed; he has become so unreliable that there's no chance to do another year with him. However, the police arrive, having been tipped off by Willie's letter. Willie flees and speeds to Thurman's house in order to give him his present; he arrives at the house and is shot eight times by the police in front of the whole neighborhood.
Afterwards, Thurman gets his present and it is revealed that Willie has survived and will avoid prison because of the letter he gave the police, and because the LAPD shooting Santa Claus in front of children was more messed up than the Rodney King incident. Willie, Sue and Thurman will form a family upon Willie's release from the hospital, at the final scene he wears a shirt that Willie gives him together with his original present, when Thurman goes out for a bike ride, one of the bullies that picks on him shows up and start to taunt Thurman, but Thurman kicks him in the crotch and rides off on the bike giving the bully the middle finger as he rides off.
Reaction
The movie attracted bad publicity before its release from conservative 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. [citation needed]
Ultimately, the film maintains a rating of 7.2 at the Internet Movie Database, an aggregate "Fresh" rating of 74% at Rotten Tomatoes, and a positive 3 1/2 stars out of four by critic Roger Ebert. The film was also a box office success grossing over $60 million at the US box office.
This was John Ritter's last live-action role—he died prior to its release—and it is dedicated to him.