John Brooks It starts slow. Everything the movie seems to be about is incorporated very quickly and nothing new happens for a bit of a while and the comedy isn't where it should be during that time. Then, it picks up.This is a cold, verbally and sexually explicit dark comedy that is probably a little bit too cynical in tone, but that holds itself up just about well enough all in all.There's certainly a sense of lingering and repetition, with the constant redundant swearing, scenes that are practically built off facile swearing dialog lines, but if one persists enough there's a pretty fun plot at the center of it, a sort of anti-Christmas Christmas magic about it with the kid and the relationship he builds with 'Santa', pretty funny secondary characters like the late Ritter (major stuckup), the late Bernie Mac or Naidu's hilariously random and unnecessary cameo scene.There's even something of a moral at the end. It's fun, coherent but lacks a bit of content even for a comedy running at 1hr30min.6.5/10.

nzswanny I expected to be really offended in this movie. I expected to hate this film. In fact, I even thought about not watching it. Luckily enough, I trusted my friends recommendation, and watched the film. I gotta say, it was really sweet, even if the lead wasn't super likable.The first half of the movie was not that great, but I forgive the film, because it gave us the introduction to the characters. The first half was basically just an offensive, crude comedy, even if some jokes were funny. But, the second half of the film I found was ten times more enjoyable.The second half was emotional, heart felt, and soft, even if the last three minutes was a bit, "What?" But, I gotta be honest, I laughed quite loudly at the first three minutes. The second half of this is really touching, funny, and quite nice. Even if you think you won't enjoy this, you will if you watch it until the end. Overall, I rate this a 8.7/10. Masterpiece.

gwnightscream Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, John Ritter and Bernie Mac star in this 2003 comedy. Thornton (Armageddon) plays Willie, a depressed, sarcastic, alcoholic thief who works as Santa Claus for department stores he robs every Christmas Eve. Cox (Me, Myself & Irene) plays his partner, Marcus who works as his Elf. Soon, an odd kid (Kelly) comes into Willie's life and changes him. Graham (Gilmore Girls, Evan Almighty) plays Sue, a bartender who falls for Willie, the late, Ritter (Problem Child) plays department store boss, Bob and the late, Mac (Ocean's Eleven) plays Gin, the store's head of security who becomes on to Willie & Marcus. This is a good holiday comedy with hilarious and a bit of touching moments. Thornton & Cox are great together and steal the film. I recommend this, but caution that there's a lot of profanity.

sunlit_dreams My husband usually finds most comedy enjoyable. I find only some comedy enjoyable. We are both avid movie-watchers. Neither of us enjoyed this movie at all. At 44mins in (47mins to go), my husband thought it 'might' be picking up... but lost interest in further watching. In my opinion, if it takes half the movie to start getting better, then it's a bad movie.This movie relies on the presentation of an immoral, irreligious, cursing Santa as it's chief premise. That it is a 'bad' movie, in in my opinion, isn't a reflection on the acting or direction, both of which seemed pretty good. Perhaps it's more redeeming feature was Brett Kelly's portrayal of 'The Kid', which makes an excellent foil to Billy Bob Thornton's 'Bad Santa'. The script, however, left a lot to be desired and seemed only designed to appeal to some. For us the dialogue and plot were both pretty uninspired and seriously lacked.If you enjoy a mockery of the traditional concept of Santa, and love a script liberally salted with a wide range of cursing, then you may possibly love this movie. We, however, did not enjoy it. Final tally: 1 for the acting, 1 for the direction & 1 for the presentation. 0 for all else.