Hey folks, Harry here... I got to see BAD SANTA back in April and felt that it was absolutely a great film... John Requa & Glen Ficarra are in fact the primary screenwriters on this film and not the Coen Brothers. Requa and Ficarra did a fantastic job and the results of what Zwigoff and crew did with that script will be brilliant so long as they keep it as hard as when I saw it in April... the reviews below don't go into that type of detail, but it does sound like they haven't taken it to a PG-13 like feared. Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
Saw a screening of Bad Santa last night and I have to tell you, it's the funniest movie I've seen in a very long time. Director Terry Zwigoff has followed up Ghost World with another brilliantly cynical dark comedy.
Billy Bob Thorton plays a very drunk department store Santa named Willie, who along with his midget (elf) partner, cases the store through the holiday season, only to rob it each Christmas Eve. In their 8th year of the ruse, they encounter some trouble when Willie, already detesting the job and especially the snot-nosed children, becomes the object of affection for a particularly fat, snotty, "retarded," 8-year-old. When the fuzz comes looking, Willie hides out at the 8-year-old's house after finding out that he lives only with his very senile grandmother, the always hilarious Cloris Leachman. Throw in Lauren Graham as a strangely perverted love interest, John Ritter as the overly-prudish store manager, and Bernie Mac as the store's security chief, and this is the funniest dark comedy in years...cruel, relentless, and SO FRICKIN FUNNY! I don't want to give anything away (like so many reviewers), but I had to write and tell you that everyone MUST go see this film when it comes out November 26th!
Cheers, Gewurtztraminer
and here's another review that seems to love it too...
Caught an advanced LA screening of Bad Santa last Thursday at Sherman Oaks Galleria. The film is directed by Terry Zwigoff and starring Billy Bob Thornton. The story is about an aging department store Santa with a midget elf sidekick who robs stores on Christmas eve. This particular new year though, Santa has unintentionally picked up a 10 year old tag along.
The film is Fargo dark, probably because it was Coen brothers produced. The Coens also got story credit, with John Requa & Glen Ficarra (of Cats and Dogs, Looney Tunes fame or infamy) picking up written by credit. I was expecting Death To Smoochy bad, but was relieved that it ended up in the ranks of Heathers, Bringing Out The Dead, and of course Fargo. This film was funnier during the opening credits (in voice over no less), than a lot of comedies (Anger Management) are during the entire film.
The film cruises along with supporting characters played by Bernie Mac (as the mall private dick) and John Ritter (as the store manager). Bernie Mac steals one scene without words; just by eating an orange. Meanwhile, Ritter's in his anal as hell I'm re-starring in Buffy zone.
Then there's Lauren Graham, Billy Bob's fuck buddy in the film. Now, I know since Woody Allen began, film geeks everywhere have been duped into the false hope that they'll score with a super hot chick like in the movies, but Billy Bob's hit jackpot here. The script tries to build in an excuse to why he can just be being our favorite Gilmore Mom, but it's just spreading false hope to film geeks everywhere. Lauren Graham is funny in the few moments they let her be, by the way.
Anyways, back to the film. This could easily be one of those films that loses its balls at the midpoint. This is not one of those films though. Instead it keep up the humor, using fuck in some of the most inappropriate ways, with inappropriate people, in inappropriate places. I love it. Most of this humor is directed towards the funniest little fat kid since the hockey neighbor in Ginger Snaps. In the end, there's a midget, a fat kid, and a belligerent department store Santa. If that doesn't say humor, what does?
Props to all involved.
Oh, and if you have to give me a name, call me C.C. Baxter.
