I loves me a movie that takes a tradition sacred to many and just warps it and tweaks it and stomps all over it. That takes guts. Bad Santa is one of the best at this that I've seen so far.

What we have here is a department store Santa played by Billy Bob Thornton. That should be your first warning right there, folks. Love him or hate him, you pretty much know what to expect when you see his name. He is, after all, the quintessential bad boy of Hollywood. He holds nothing back here and this Santa is fun as hell. He's a thief see, and uses the Santa gig every year to get the inside scoop on store security so he can rob them blind on Christmas Eve.

Bob Chipeska: I don't know. There's just something about the guy that makes me uneasy.
Gin: Well sure. Santa fucking someone in the ass.

This year he picks one run by John Ritter as an uptight prig. You know the type. They can't wait to find something, anything, to get all indignant about and then run around shouting 'fire!' trying to enlist backup, but if you refuse to play their silly game they crumble like so much coffee cake and start back peddling toot sweet. This was Ritter's last role and he did it up perfectly.

Tony Cox (Spaceballs) plays Santa's elf and Thornton's side kick to comedic effect. The Gilmore Girls' own Lauren Graham is the gal who has a Santa fetish and stumbles upon the likes of Thornton. Just perfect.

Willie: I beat the shit out of some kids today, but it was for a purpose.

Then we have 'the kid' under-played to hilarious effect by Brett Kelly. This is the kid that looks to Santa for the answers to life, so to speak... it's his ill luck that the one he goes to is of course Thornton. I've got to tell ya, I loved this kid's quiet portrayal and easy acceptance of all the bizzarness that is happening around him.

Now, as far as the director's cut goes, refered to as Badder Santa, the only thing I could tell that was added was some footage revolving around a car jacking from a valet lot. Funny as hell, but not worth making it seem like there is a ton of new stuff... yanno?

Rated R for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence. Yep, yep and yep. Constant swearing and devious activities happening here so be forwarned if you are the squeamish type. Personally, I loved it.

Hats off to Director Terry Zwigoff for a holiday movie that is just funny as shit. I'm going with 5 stars on this one and warning you that your sides will be aching by the end.

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This review has been brought to you by the third annual Lean-n-Mean write-off hosted by Sleeper54 (In which Movies once again whoops Book's butt).

To join in the fun and test your own review-brevity prowess, go here: http://www.epinions.com/content_4149256324


Recommended:
Yes