Bad Santa DVD Review:

Willie (Thornton) and Marcus (Cox) pulled off the perfect heist every festive season. Each year they gets jobs as the store Santa and his Elf, work for the holiday season and then steal all of the Christmas takings from the department store on Christmas Eve. The problem is that every year Willie becomes more and more of a drunk and coupled with the fact that he actually hates kids, the job isn’t getting any easier. This time they choose Phoenix as their target but what Willie and Marcus don’t count on is an overly intuitive boss (Ritter), a store detective (Mac) who wants in on the action and a kid (Kelly) who believes that Willie is the real Santa and won’t leave him alone.

Christmas movies are usually filled with joy and cheer and a spirit that reflects this special holiday. This Xmas movie is as far away from that as you could possibly get.

The director of cult indie hit ‘Ghost World’, Terry Zwigoff and the Coen Brothers bring us one of the most outrageous and downright vulgar Christmas movies you will ever see and that is its appeal. Festive Hollywood films always follow the same pattern of overindulging on sugary sweetness and yuletide cheer and throwing in a Christmas message to make you feel filled with Xmas cheer, Bad Santa forgoes all of these clichés and delivers a refreshing festive film that you will be ho, ho, ho-ing to for a very long time.

Key to the comedic success of the movie is the performances of the three leads, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly and Billy Bob Thornton. As Marcus, the Elf and mastermind behind the whole scheme is brilliant played by little person actor Tony Cox. This is a role that the actor excels in as he creates a character that isn’t the brunt of all jokes, as someone of his size so could have easily have been but instead he becomes the initiator of most of the abuse and gags, which are mostly aimed at Willie. Brett Kelly is perfect as the annoying kid with the Santa fascination. He portrays a sweet innocence child even when he is been bombarded with obscenities by his idol at every opportunity. He has an awful lot of lines to deliver, basically he keeps asking Willie questions about Santa, but he does it really well. Kelly is also not your usual cutesy, butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth American child actor but a more honest look at the average kid with personal and social problems.

The movie is really a showcase for Billy Bob Thornton’s comedic skills. As Willie he creates a character that optimises everything that is wrong about Christmas and is the worst store Santa you have ever seen. He uses foul and abusive language in front of the children, he constantly drinks and has a passion for the larger set women who frequent the store. But it is the character’s safe cracking skills that he brings to the table but this self-abusive life is starting to cloud even that. This is a tour-de-force for Thornton, as it shows that he has a real acting gift and can excel in any genre.

The supporting cast is also good. In one of his last roles before his untimely death, John Ritter excels and creates another memorable character. As Mall manager Bob Chipeska, he plays a man who just doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of anyone and can’t help but keep putting his foot in it. This is another showcase of Ritter’s comedic prowess and reminds us that he will be sadly missed. Bernie Mac is also good as the unscrupulous Gin, the Mall’s store detective. This is an ideal role for Mac as he excels as a man full of self-importance and delusions of grandeur.

Bad Santa is the most different Christmas movie you will ever see. Even though it does have a slight festive message, nothing else conforms to your usual Holiday Season fare but the movie is all the better for it. Those of you who hate the excessive commercialism of the time of year will adore this movie that it pokes full at the very thing that you despise the most, Christmas Spirit.

Star Rating = * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, this is a decent transfer.

BONUS FEATURES

Outtakes (4.03 mins)
A montage of the cast mucking up their lines and making many mistakes. You also get to see the late, great John Ritter trying to cope with Bernie Mac’s frank language.

Deleted Scenes (8.59 mins)
Three deleted scenes that show Willie attending Santa School, an extended scene in Miami, the various takes with the Security guard and him falling asleep on the job.

Featurette (9.30 mins)
Director Terry Zwigoff, producers John Cameron and Sarah Aubrey and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham and Brett Kelly talk about how the idea by Joel and Ethan Coen escalated into something that is not your typical Christmas movie. The director and producers talk about casting the picture and all of the reveal what it was like working with the late, great John Ritter. This is a decent featurette but could have a little longer.

Trailers
Previews of White Chicks and Suspect Zero

OVERALL

At long last ‘Bad Santa’ is released on DVD in Europe but it is a bit of a mixed bag. While the film is as entertaining as ever, the bonus features are a little short but they are decent. The featurette is fun and the outtakes are very funny, but the lack of a commentary track is like waking up Christmas morning and getting a lump of coal instead of any presents. Could have been better.



Jamie Kelwick