Bad Santa (2003)

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.

Director:

Terry Zwigoff

Writers:

Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Stars:

Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Willie
Tony Cox	...	Marcus
Brett Kelly	...	The Kid
Lauren Graham	...	Sue
Lauren Tom	...	Lois
Bernie Mac	...	Gin
John Ritter	...	Bob Chipeska
Ajay Naidu	...	Hindustani Troublemaker
Lorna Scott	...	Milwaukee Mother
Harrison Bieker	...	Milwaukee Boy
Alex Borstein	...	Milwaukee Mom with Photo
Alexandra Korhan	...	Girl on Santa's Lap
Dylan Charles	...	Milwaukee Bratty Boy
Billy Gardell	...	Milwaukee Security Guard
Lisa Ross	...	Milwaukee Bartender

Storyline

Willie T. Stokes is a convicted con man who's led a miserable life. He drinks heavily and constantly embarrasses himself publicly. He only works once a year dressed as Santa. But then come Christmas Eve, he and his pint-sized helper dwarf Marcus stage elaborate robberies and take their department stores for everything they got. This time around, Willie gets distracted by large women, a bartender who is attracted to Santas, and a kid who's convinced he's the real deal. However, Marcus must once again put up with Willie's heavy drinking and a series of incidents that constantly shoot themselves in the foot. Will Willie and Marcus make it to next Christmas? Or will this be the year the dynamic duo finally face justice?

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Plot Keywords:

heaving bosom | intercourse | stripper | strip club | stripper pole | 

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Taglines:

On November 21, You Better Watch Out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 November 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Badder Santa

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,292,952, 30 November 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$60,060,328

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$77,147,031

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Dimension Films,Triptych Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 88 min (director's cut) 100 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tony Cox ad-libbed the "You probably shouldn't be digging in your ass" line. Director Terry Zwigoff found the line so funny that he admitted to repeatedly cracking up on set and even waking up in the middle of the night laughing.

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Goofs

When Willie and Marcus enter the mall for the first time, before Chipeska greets them the pear-shaped woman whom Willie lustfully admires begins to walk past them. But when Chipeska approaches them, the woman walks by again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Willie: Hey, can I get another drink down here?

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Crazy Credits

The producers of Stolichnaya Vodka caution viewers to consume alcoholic beverages responsibly and lawfully and not to consume such beverages in an abusive or irresponsible manner.

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Alternate Versions

The 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.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Up in the Air/Everybody's Fine/Brothers (2009)

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Soundtracks

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
(1963)
Written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Jeff Barry
Performed by Swag Music Group featuring Tom Chappell
Courtesy of Swag Music Group

User Reviews

The Ultimate Inappropriate Christmas Movie

Forget Jimmy Stewart and that claymation crap! If you like Christmas movies with more of an edge and lots of comedy however, "Bad Santa" might just be your new favorite holiday movie. In my mind, usurping "A Christmas Story" and "Scrooged" as the funniest holiday movie yet, Bad Santa (or BS as I like to call it) pulls no punches as it delivers a raunchy, yet funny, and yes, even a little bit of a touching film.

Billy Bob Thorton is a drinking, fornicating, defecating thief who freeloads for the whole year, only to work 25 days in December while robbing a mall of all it's holiday proceeds. His partner in crime is Tony Cox, Santa's little person helper who keeps him sober and lucid enough through the season to not royally screw things up.

I won't go into details, because frankly the plot needs work. But the acting is superb, the script hysterical, and the unbelievable jokes and inappropriate situations are just so entertaining you won't care about anything else.

Bernie Mac and Lauren Graham deliver polished supporting roles, as does John Ritter in his final film role before his death. The kid doesn't have many lines (and I want to slap him for the ones he does deliver), but just looking at him makes me laugh, so I can't complain there.

Basically, this is the ultimate inappropriate Christmas movie; one that makes you stand up and scream, "Holly s*!t I can't believe they did that!" This movie is just so blatantly wrong, the only other film I can compare it to is "South Park: The Movie." Just as South Park crosses every line of decency that previously existed, so does BS. A great movie because of it? Hell no. But a funny and entertaining one? Hell yes!