Through all its comedic crudeness, Bad Santa never really make light of the main character€™s alcoholic state. In the film, Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) is a bitter, lonely alcoholic and the portrayal of the hopeless alcoholic lifestyle in this film gives you a really bad taste in your mouth. Willie is also a conman who takes scores with a partner named Marcus (Tony Cox); the pair works malls in order to rob them. It's a Christmas movie for the jaded masses. But it's not Thorton's convincing portrayal of a whiskey-chugging, salacious Santa that makes this movie worthy of the black Christmas comedy title, it's his unlikely sidekick, an intrepid young boy who refuses to believe this hapless d-bag is not Santa, despite his penchant for cursing, vomiting, and casual anal sex with strangers. There's just something really heartwarming about a kid who realises that Christmas miracles can sometimes come in unexpected, morally decrepit packages. Rather than the sickly sweet charm of traditional Christmas films, Bad Santa uses cynicism, outrageousness and inappropriateness - suggesting that the festivity of the season truly can redeem anybody.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
