The 2003 comedy film Bad Santa is distributed by Dimension Films and Columbia Pictures. The stars include Billy Bob Thorton as Willie Stokes, Tony Cox as Marcus, Brent Kelly as the Kid, Lauren Graham as Sue, and Bernie Mac as Gin Slagel. The producers are Sarah Aubrey (TV's Friday Night Lights), John Cameron (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), and Bob Weinstein (My Boss's Daughter). The film is directed by Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World).

The story is about two conmen, Willie and Marcus, who get jobs as Santa and Santa's Little Helper, respectively. Every year, they get the same jobs at a different mall and after the store closes for Christmas Eve, they rob it and spend the rest of the year living it up with what they stole. Willie is a lonely alcoholic who is always drinking and wasting the money he stole. One year, they get the jobs at a new mall, but Willie's ranting rises the suspicion of the mall manager. He turns to the security chief to dig up something he can use to fire him. That night, Willie meets an attractive bartender and they start dating. The following day while acting as Santa, he meets a pudgy little kid named Thurman Murman. Later on, Thurman stops a guy trying to beat Willie up. The kid, as he is most often referred to by Willie, gets a ride home from the fake Santa. The thief comes in and robs the place, taking the fancy BMW and the cash in the safe.

The next night, Willie spots the security chief from the mall in his hotel room. He decides to shack up with Thurman and his senile grandmother. Meanwhile Gin Slagel, the aforementioned security chief, finds out Willie and Marcus's history but tells the manager that they're clean. Then he blackmails the two thieves into giving him half of what they're going to steal from the mall. They reluctantly agree but Marcus later kills Gin before the robbery. On Christmas Eve, Willie and Marcus are robbing the mall when Willie spots a pink elephant that Thurman had told him he wanted. After getting the elephant he has an attack of conscience. When he turns around, Marcus points a gun at him and is about to shoot when the cops show up. They chase the fake Santa all the way to Thurman's house where he is shot eight times in the back.

One striking characteristic of the film is the father-son-like relationship that Willie and Thurman develop as the story moves on. Willie's father had been abusive towards him which is why he hates himself so much. Although there is no evidence that Thurman is abused by his father, Willie may have seen a little of himself in Thurman. He, therefore, decided to make life better for the boy, which is obviously what a father wants for his son. When Thurman tells him about the skateboard kids who harass him outside the mall, he teaches him how to defend himself. Later on, the pudgy kid comes home with a black eye, so Willie beats up the bullies for him. Afterward, he confesses that when he was doing it, he finally felt like he was doing something useful for someone and not being the screw-up he normally was. Willie goes through a change for the better and now has a purpose for living.

Bad Santa is not your typical Christmas movie. In fact, it is the polar opposite. It features Santa not as a jolly old fat man, but as a lonely self-loathing drunk who robs malls every Christmas Eve with his "elf". Also, instead of a nice and clean story with little or no violence and no foul language, we see Santa engaged in gun battles and dropping f-bombs like there's no tomorrow. Not to mention he often behaves inappropriately around women, sometimes "fat" ones, especially after drinking too much. In spite of featuring "Santa", this movie is clearly not for the kids.

To wrap, if you're looking for an atypical Christmas movie about a man who changes for the better, then Bad Santa is a movie you will enjoy immensely.

Kevin T. Dillehay has written nearly a hundred movie reviews from all genres. He provides a unique perspective on the movies you see all the time but may not stop and think about in depth. You are invited to check out his work at http://www.moviefilmreview.com/author/kmonk10.

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