Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2016 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-14
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, German, Hindi, Turkish
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite, Bad Santa is as nasty as it wants to be, and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Terry Zwigoff who brings his unique affinity for losers and outcasts to the twisted tale of Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed sexaholic safe-cracker who targets a different department store every holiday season, playing Santa while he cases the joint with his dwarf elf-partner Marcus (Tony Cox). With comedic support from Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, Cloris Leachman, and John Ritter in his final film, Thornton milks the lowbrow laughs with a slovenly lack of sentiment, warming Bad Santa's pickled heart just enough to please a chubby misfit (Brett Kelly, hilariously deadpan) who may or may not be mentally challenged. As dry as an arid martini and blacker than morning-after coffee, Bad Santa is an instant cure for yuletide schmaltz, and if you think this appropriately R-rated comedy is suitable for kids, your parenting skills are no better than Willie's. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Billy Bob Thornton is terrific as Willie T. Stokes; a lowlife department store Santa in Terry Zwigoff's outrageous comedic follow-up to his offbeat hit 'Ghost World'. Every year, Stokes takes a job as Santa in a different place in order to rob the store he's working in. The diminutive Tony Cox plays his horny sidekick, Marcus, the real mastermind, who is even more foulmouthed than Stokes. Brett Kelly is Thurman Merman, an eight-year-old who desperately needs to believe in the real Santa Claus - and just might have a good enough heart to change Stokes's evil ways. Or maybe not. And Lauren Graham plays Sue, a young sexpot who wants to get a different kind of gift from Santa. Providing excellent comic relief in this black comedy is John Ritter, in his last film role, as the mousy mall manager, and Bernie Mac as Gin, the mall security guard who suspects something is not right. Be warned - 'Bad Santa' is not a family holiday movie. It is lewd, crude, and very funny, but it is most definitely not for children. Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers behind such quirky hits as 'Raising Arizona' and 'Barton Fink', are the executive producers who came up with the idea in the first place, influenced by the likes of 'The Bad News Bears' and 'South Park'.

Customer Reviews

Santa gives political correctness a serious seasonal spanking.
One of the cleverest adult comedies released in a long time. A down an out con man who is rotten to the core discovers a purpose as he starts to befriend a boy who is an easy target for bullies. One may think the drunk-playing-Santa theme would wear off quite quickly but the lines keep on coming and some of the scenes need a cachinnate cramp warning.
Billy Bob Thornton is so good in this role one kind of marvels at how much fun he must have had researching it. For me Tony Cox stole this one as the acid-tongued elf constantly covering for Santa's misdemeanours.
If you're expecting Dickens you'll be offended. If you want a 90 minute laugh, this is one of the best you'll get.

Quite Brilliant
Refreshing ribald humour. The kind of film that brings sanity during an absurd time of year. I want a sequel.

Very funny but not for the easily offended.
Anyone who is easily offended should avoid this film like the plague. It is the complete opposite of the usual saccharine offerings brought out for the festive season. Bad Santa is the story of Willy, a womanising, alcoholic, foul mouthed, safe cracker who, alongside his sidekick Marcus, spends the festive season posing as a store Santa (complete with pint sized ‘elf’) in order to rob the stores they work in. Willy hates kids, and is rude and obnoxious to all the little darlings who sit on his lap, (as well as to anyone else he comes across). Things change when a lonely, bullied boy, Therman Herman decides to latch onto Santa and become his friend. Very reluctantly, Willy finds himself considering someone other than himself.
Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant as the grouchy, unkempt Willy, whilst Brett Kelly shows a mature acting ability as the misfit Therman. Laura Graham is Sue, the girl with the Santa Claus fetish who falls for Willy but insists he always wears his hat. Peppered with language that would make a navvy blush and scenes that touch on the taboo, this is a film that makes no pretence at being politically correct and doesn’t care if it offends. It is outrageous in parts yet manages to produce some real ‘laugh out loud’ moments. The DVD features a few extras such as outtakes and deleted scenes and the usual subtitles but nothing to get too excited about. This is a film for anyone who likes a ‘belly laugh’ and isn’t easily shocked but it definitely isn’t one for the children.