Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Bad Santa'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There are always two sides to every story, especially when it comes to the holiday shopping season. Because, every year we battle traffic, fight for parking and deal with rude people and massive crowds all in the hopes of picking up that perfect gift for the people we love.  

Yet while we deal with those horrible things, we often forget about the other side of the coin...the employees who help us out in this hectic season. They too deal with the good, the bad and the ugly and often do it with a smile on their faces. But what if one of those employees wanted to take advantage of this busy season and earn a little payback by way of free cash? It's a question that is posed and quickly answered in twisted fashion in the hilarious dark comedy...Bad Santa. 

Willie and Marcus make up one miserable but successful holiday team. Willie is a Mall Santa, and Marcus is his elf. Every year they move from town to town, flashing a grin in front of the kids as they bide their time to rob the store they work for blind, living off of their score until the Christmas season rolls around again. But this year may go differently, for with the new friend that Willie has made and the fact that their plot has been discovered by mall security, this year's score may be their last.  

---

​I'm not kidding when I said earlier that this comedy is dark, because this film delves into some depressing territory. Willie is a raging alcoholic and generally a bad human being. Marcus is a ruthless man hell-bent on the score and nothing more and with main characters this unsavory one would think that a film like this should be skipped. But that is simply not the case.  

Bad Santa is flat out hilarious through and through. Joke after joke will leave your sides hurting from all of the laughter and that's the first big thing that redeems this film from being a depressing holiday flick about a drunk who rips off malls for a living. But what truly manages to save this film from going too far off the deep end is that it is deceiving in many ways. Because despite it's dark nature, it is really a story of Christmas cheer as we watch Willie go from awful drunk to well...believe it or not a hero.
 
It's a classic story of holiday redemption that manages to sneak up on you thanks to the fine performances turned in by the cast since Billy Bob Thornton and the late Bernie Mac and the late John Ritter are just amazing to watch on screen. Either way, this is a holiday movie worth watching. With a great cast, solid laughs and a story that in its own warped way manages to hold up the idealism of so many Christmas classics, you'll be glad you sat down to watch it.  

---