Bad Santa
Christmas always brings a sense of joy to all who celebrate it. It's no different for Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox). Every Christmas, Willie plays a mall Santa and Marcus his elf and they go around to a different mall each year and robs them on Christmas Eve. One Christmas, Willie believed it was the right time to call it quits but with his empty pockets, he's forced to do it again for one more Christmas, this time in Phoenix with an inquisitive mall manager (John Ritter, in his final role) and a know-it-all security chief (Bernie Mac). It now seems Willie has hit rock bottom. Barely able to stand up straight with all the drinking he does, he barely gets through the day, just waiting for the holiday season to end. A few nights in, he meets a fat kid who truly believes he is Santa Claus. At first Willie exploits him, but soon a connection develops and he becomes a father figure in his life. As a result, Willie is forced to balance good and bad, leading to a showdown in the end.

I never saw "Crumb" but I did see Terry Zwigoff's "Ghost World" which I thought brought a fresh view of outcasts growing up in a new world. Zwigoff again brings his sense of style to change what we know about dark comedies, "Bad Santa" being one of the darkest comedies I've ever seen. Every minute is filled with something offensive and every minute is filled with a laugh, some out loud, others just a chuckle. But a comedy needs to have its limits and this one doesn't have any, which really turned me off. It hit rock bottom when Willie starts to beat up children. Sure, it's to defend his new friend, but come now, that's pretty low. There's also some missed opportunities. Ritter seems to disappear after the first half of the movie and Cloris Leachman is the grandmother who either sits in her recliner or makes sandwiches. Still, the movie's pretty damn funny. 2.5 stars