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Funniest movie ever.

This movie was SO good...who doesn't like to see something so ironic as somebody so good being so bad? I mean, this is right up there with office space funny. Laughing within the first 2 minutes of the movie funny. It's an awesome movie. Don't miss it.

Just plain funny!!!!!

The funniest, raunchiest movie since "Ford Fairlane". Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant at least, and that's probably an understatement. He is just way too funnny in this one. Excellent for the older members of the family. The little fat kid is a great foil to Billy Bob's Badder Santa.

Not nearly as Funny...

I am not a righteous person and I love dark gross-out humor, but Bad Santa is not nearly as funny as many people are saying it is. The writing is not intelligent and there were many awkward pauses and missed opportunities. The "jokes" were forced and I was certainly let down. B.B.T did a decent job given that he did what he could with a B-movie part. Some of the characters were grossly underdeveloped and they just disappeared as the movie progressed. Maybe I missed it, but what was the point? Anyone?

If you missed it in the theater...

Don't miss it here! This movie was absolutely HILARIOUS! During the first few minutes of the film I leaned over to my husband and said, "We are buying this THE DAY it comes out on dvd", and my opinion stayed the same throughout the whole movie.

It is dark comedy, to be sure, but a more entertaining film would be hard to find. I truly think this film was underrated because I didn't hear all that much about it, but it is DEFINITELY worth renting if you don't want to risk it to buy it!

Hilarious dark comedy.

Con Artist Willie Strokes ( Billy Bob Thorton) with his midget sidekick ( Tony Cox) have been across the country every year playing Santa Claus in every shopping mall only to take some money. He is now in Phoenix Arizona to be their mall's Santa Claus, however he meets a kid ( Brett Kelly) whom thinks he's the real Santa Claus as he becomes friends. Willie has a plot to take the mall's loot to avoid being caught by the mall's detective ( Played by Bernie Mac) and store worker ( John Ritter) or else he's screwed for sure.

A foul-mouth and raunchy black comedy is executive produced by Joel & Ethan Cohen is loaded with profanity, sexual jokes and a wicked sense of adult humor. Definitely not for the kids Santa Claus movie, it's a grown up laugh-feast guaranteed to be a cult favorite.

The unrated DVD is sooo much superior to the original cut in which this version has some offensive stuff to avoid an "NC-17" rating, it's got nice picture & Sound quality, outtakes, behind the scenes special and deleted & Alternate scenes.

A recommended comedy that is guaranteed to offend or if your into the kind of humor from "Family Guy", John Waters or Trey Parker & Matt Stone.

The Classic Christmas Movie--- for Reprobates

I got this from a friend from Amazon and didn't watch it for a long time.

Then I watched it.

Then I watched it again.

Now I think it is probably one of the funniest movies I've seen.

It's painful to watch. It's harder to laugh at.

Just F****IN Hilarious!

As manically demented as the road gets, this marvellously insane, foul–mouthed movie leads to a very American, very heart-warming, affirmation of family, even if it is one constructed out of the bits and pieces of some VERY damaged people. Billy Bob Thornton aces the role as madman Santa( with all the publicity surrounding his hard-living ways, I wonder where he begins and the character ends). John Ritter, in his last film performance, is very good as the bewildered store manager. Tony Cox, Lauren Graham and even Bernie Mac are terrific in this cast of characters one never hopes to meet.
Cloris Leachman plays the almost-dead grandma with total conviction (LOL). Special congratulations to Brett Kelly who plays `The Kid'; he delivers his lines in the dead-speak of a true victim who keeps on hoping something good will happen and, finally, it does. I plan to add this one to my list of `Holiday Favourites'.

Great and funny film with terrible DVD

As a film Bad Santa was so depraved and vile that you couldn't help but laugh by the end. Willie even becomes sort of an underdog that you root for by the final few scenes.

The DVD however is terrible. I can't really see much of any difference between the theatrical release and this apparent "unrated version". The extras on the DVD are few and far between as well. No commentary, a short gag reel, and a short outtake reel (which uses roughly 80% of the footage in the gag reel) a few extra scenes, and a 10 or 15 minute behind the scenes deal. Nothing to write home about at all. A Billy Bob and Tony Cox commentary would have been great. Hell anything would have been better than what we got here. The DVD just seems rushed and unfinished.

WOW!

I think this is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. There are things in the film that people in the theatre were gasping in shock about, that I was practically p*ssing my pants laughing at. When this comes out in Video/DVD I will OWN this one! I usually hate Christmas films, but this one is by FAR the best one I have ever seen, even better than "A Christmas Story". Of course, it is NOT for everyone... but definitely for those who don't get offended by anything, and like to laugh to the point of rupturing their spleen!

I should sue to get 91 minutes of my life back (possible SPOILERS)

*some SPOILERS* (but who cares? This film spoils itself by simply existing.)While the genre of 'holiday films' has become horribly cliché and undoubtedly deserves a good lambasting, making a film far worse than the average holiday flick is not the way to do it. Yes, it's nice to see a movie that doesn't ever compromise its non-P.C. vision, but there's enough quality movies that do this (i.e. South Park, Dogma,) that the standard should be set higher than this.THIS FILM IS NOT FUNNY! I think I laughed twice (and those were accompanied by eye-rolls). Here's why it's not funny:This film operates under the premise that anything, no matter how dark and twisted, can be humorous. I do not contest this idea (see The Royal Tennenbaums, Heathers), but see, there has to be a humorous spin, wit, or interesting joke involved. Saying 'f#%@' a lot is not inherently funny unless you make particularly strong use of the rest of the English language, which "Bad Santa" does not do. Alcoholism is not inherently funny unless it's in the context of humorous behavior. But urinating in one's pants is not funny. Cursing at children is not funny. Billy Bob having sex with someone is certainly not funny, nor something that should be permitted to even be hinted at on screen. See, this passes the "gross-out joke" fad by completely ruling out the 'joke' part of it altogether. It's just plain gross. And crude. And unclever. And really, really, boring.Still I'm sure there are many people (and if you, dear reader, are one, please seek psychotherapy immediately) who find this movie hilarious. I can hear it now:-'Oh man, when he was too drunk to stand up. God that was so funny I fell off my seat man!'-'Yeah! That kid had snot running out of his nose! Sheer comic genius!!!'-'Oh man, I laughed so hard every time someone said the word 'sandwich'.'-"Dude, no. The best was when he kept saying 'f#%@'."-'When the kid revealed that his parents were dead, man that was the funniest."In short, this was a complete waste of an hour and a half of my life. I could have been doing ANYTHING and had a better time than I had watching this piece of garbage. My advice is to avoid this thing at all cost. And if your friend owns a copy, disown him.2/10 (One point for each time I laughed).

Fuc_ing funny movie

Just funny as hell. You have to watch it to understand.

Best Christmas movie ever.

Billy Bob and crew are great in this

I'm no expert at movie reviews, so I'll keep it short. I love this movie because it cleverly exposes the lies of the "Perfect American Christmas" while at the same time offering alternative redemption for that same institution. There is plenty of swearing, sacrilege and lowbrow humor here, and it's pretty well done. By breaking so many standard taboos around the sanctity of the modern Christmas Holidays, something more real to celebrate seems to shine through. It ain't no "White Christmas," and yet it seems just as much a part of the required Christmas watching list.

And as another reviewer said, you get to appreciate the subtle humor of John Ritter, R.I.P.

Great Movie, Classic Coen

Simply put, I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in many years. If you liked Raising Arizona, Fargo and other similar Coen films, and like comedies that are dark and original, then go see this one. If you're easily offended, and prefer your comedies with a laugh track...just to help you know when to laugh....then you might want to see something else. It's really quite brilliant, just as we've come to expect with anything the Coen brothers get involved with.

The Ultimate Inappropriate Christmas Movie

Forget Jimmy Stewart and that claymation crap! If you like Christmas movies with more of an edge and lots of comedy however, "Bad Santa" might just be your new favorite holiday movie. In my mind, usurping "A Christmas Story" and "Scrooged" as the funniest holiday movie yet, Bad Santa (or BS as I like to call it) pulls no punches as it delivers a raunchy, yet funny, and yes, even a little bit of a touching film.Billy Bob Thorton is a drinking, fornicating, defecating thief who freeloads for the whole year, only to work 25 days in December while robbing a mall of all it's holiday proceeds. His partner in crime is Tony Cox, Santa's little person helper who keeps him sober and lucid enough through the season to not royally screw things up.I won't go into details, because frankly the plot needs work. But the acting is superb, the script hysterical, and the unbelievable jokes and inappropriate situations are just so entertaining you won't care about anything else.Bernie Mac and Lauren Graham deliver polished supporting roles, as does John Ritter in his final film role before his death. The kid doesn't have many lines (and I want to slap him for the ones he does deliver), but just looking at him makes me laugh, so I can't complain there.Basically, this is the ultimate inappropriate Christmas movie; one that makes you stand up and scream, "Holly s*!t I can't believe they did that!" This movie is just so blatantly wrong, the only other film I can compare it to is "South Park: The Movie." Just as South Park crosses every line of decency that previously existed, so does BS. A great movie because of it? Hell no. But a funny and entertaining one? Hell yes!

It ain't funny, and it ain't good

First let me clear up: a) I see nothing sacrilegious about being as crude on or about Xmas as anyone wants to be, b) I am not some idiot from the plains states that only likes "Bruce Almighty" and suchlike, c) I was not expecting "an uplifting holiday film," in fact, I went because I had seen the director's two previous films. No, the reason I didn't like this film is that IT SUCKED.This movie isn't funny. It is essentially one joke repeated ad nauseum. Some people apparently find that one joke funny, and that really is the only appealing thing about this film: they're as crude as they can be about sacred Xmas traditions. They do terrible things in front of children. They say naughty words. So if you're in 4th grade--or a 4th grade of the mind--maybe this movie is for you. Other than that there's really very little to find interesting here. It just couldn't go by fast enough.You know those DVD commentaries that end up revealing that everything you loved and thought was well-crafted about a film was essentially just an accident and the director is about as intelligent as tree bark? In that same way, this movie made me think about Terry Zwigoff. Was Crumb just an accident? Was Ghost World just... really good source material? How could the person who made those two films deliver... THIS? Does he just want subversion for it's own sake? Like... any 4th grader? Are 4th grade dirty jokes enough to make a whole movie? This movie has scenes where you're watching open-mouthed saying: "Wasn't there ANYONE on the set? Because I know if there was, someone would have seen that this stuff is unusable."So much for Terry Zwigoff. Too bad.--- Check out website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com

heh

I remember being shocked by all the negative reviews due to language after watching My Cousin Vinny. What bad language? So I watched it again. Oh. I think my brain came with an 'f' filter. Perhaps that's why I didn't find Bad Santa all that amusing. Take away the idea of a swearing santa and what's left? In this movie, nothing.

I feel the need to take a poll. When that pathetic kid walked in on santa and his groupie and handed santa the pickle or stick of wood or whatever, how many of you were sure he'd use it on the groupie in front of the kid? Did the director feel that was going too far? or couldn't he get it past the censors? Sadly, I suspect it was the latter. Subtlety ain't in that guy's vocabulary.

Some people in here are comparing Bad Santa to The Ref. There's no comparison. One was a hilarious comedy with brilliant dialogue that sometimes bordered on the sublime. The other was just plain bad santa. It's a simple little equation.

Director's Cut a Much Better Film!

Just bought the Blu-ray of this and highly recommend it. It includes the Director's Cut of the film which I especially enjoyed - I thought it was pretty great actually. Especially loved the scene they cut out of the Uncut Version that has Billy Bob popping what looks to be an amyl nitrate! I can see why the studio was uncomfortable with that, but c'mon, it was hilarious! Also Billy Bob smoking cigarettes with kids on his lap - very funny. The Director's Cut also got rid of some of the falsely sentimental scenes near the end predictably intended to win your heart - like where Billy Bob is lighting candles for the Holiday season and so on and so forth. This crap was not missed and it's absence really improved the film for me. And of course the original ending is far superior. In a commentary track, Zwigoff and his editor explain how the Test Audience process had a hand in forcing his cut to be altered. I'm just glad I was able to see it finally like he meant it to be. I liked the version i saw in theaters but this Dircetor's Cut of Zwigoff's is a far superior film. Original, surprising, hilarious, and moving. Right up there with his other pictures "GhostWorld" and "Crumb" which are some of my favorite films. The picture and sound quality of the Blu-Ray is A+. I will be watching this every Christmas!

Director's Cut - Five Stars
Uncut Version - Four Stars

It's The Anti-Santa!

Take a skinny, drunken, ill-dressed Santa, a sneaky, foul-mouthed elf dwarf, turn them into Holiday bank robbers and you have a story from the Coen Brothers. It's a shame they didn't direct this film as well as co-writing it, but the entire film smacks of sharp, demented wit. It is the anti-thesis of the classic, "A Christmas Story". Willie (Billy Bob Thornton, who was born to play this role) and his accomplice Marcus (Tony Cox) rob Christmas stores every year after they close down. It sounds simple, but the dialogue is the true star here. Throw in John Ritter as a timid store manager (you can see his skin crawl when he even has to utter a bad word) and Bernie Mac (a classic performance) as the shifty store detective and you're given another hilarious polar duo. Of course, Bad Santa has to have a girlfriend and this one has a Santa fetish like no other! Before you get all strung out on the blasphemy of what is being done to Christmas, take into account that there is an ending that is full of good will - although not as completely as intended by `Santa'. If you're up to a shockingly hilarious ride full of potty-mouthed humor and a few days in the life of the `anti-Santa', you'll have a lot to laugh about.

0.01 stars

In what parallel universe is BAD SANTA funny?

Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox) are a pair of crooks who get an annual gig as Santa and his elf at a major department store during the Christmas season. Then, after the doors close on December 24th, the two loot the premises of money and expensive merchandise. During the off-season, Willie spends his time stealing luxury cars and burgling safes in the private residences of their owners.

Soke is the Santa of the skit. He's a gutter-mouthed, mean-spirited, fornicating, drunken, and slovenly wreck of a man. And that's when he's in full costume asking the kid on his knee what he/she wants for Christmas. Marcus, the "elf", is an angry dwarf of color. Towards the end of the film, he kills a blackmailer seeking a cut of the action by having the interloper's midsection crushed between the bumpers of two cars, and then finishing him off by electrocution with battery jumper cables. Yup, that sure had me guffawing.

The screenwriters of this atrocity, decidedly the worst picture of 2003 that I've seen, did succeed in making the Soke character an outstandingly BAD SANTA. That's the only reason I'm rating it (0.01 stars) as high as I have.

It seems that every other word of the dialog is the "F" word. Now, mind you, I'm not puritanical, and use the word myself on rare occasions for emphasis. But why is it that screenwriters thinks its overuse is funny? HELLO, Tinseltown; get a clue! It's not. It's just adolescent and tedious and indicative to me of a lack of creative juice.

John Ritter has the part of the store manager who wants Willie and Marcus fired, but can't think of a way of doing it without risking a lawsuit for job discrimination against a height-challenged member of a racial minority (Marcus). I was never even the most lukewarm fan of Ritter, but I have to feel sorry for his lame and moronic role in this, his last on-screen performance (short of a voiceover in the 2004 CLIFFORD'S REALLY BIG MOVIE). What a legacy for the ages!

I've seen BAD SANTA pretentiously given high marks in a national forum because a film's quality is supposedly determined "not about what it is about, but about how it is about it." Regardless of the content, then, I gather I should have at least technically admired it as a creative and cutting edge adult COMEDY. But since neither my wife and I cracked a single smile during its 93-minute run time, I come to the conclusion that it's pure compost. Oh, does that same indicator of quality also apply to snuff films? Puhleeeze!

Not as Bad As Advertised

To begin with, the inclusions in the unrated version of "Bad Santa" do nothing to enhance the raunch factor of the original theatrical version. These additions neither add or subtract from the original version and the moniker "Badder Santa" was just a shrewd marketing ploy. That said, the film is a gloriously ribald comic classic. Billy Bob Thornton as the title character comically embodies every vice known to man. This is definitely a Santa that has no shame. Thornton is wonderfully abetted with a great cast that includes Tony Cox, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, and Cloris Leachman. Special mention should be made for John Ritter in his final film role as the milquetoast mall manager. One element of the film that gave me pause was the use of young Brett Kelly as the object of humor. I don't like it when children, particularly maladjusted ones, are potentially exploited for the amusement of an audience. The makers of this film walk a slippery slope here but ultimately the film gives Kelly's character dignity that wasn't apparent at first.