Welcome, one and all, to the "Reaction & Review Christmas Special". Yes, guys, it's that time of year again where I cover another Christmas movie for this series. And for this year's Christmas Special, I have found a movie that I've been very curious about for a long time. It is a comedy from 2003. That movie is "Bad Santa".
Now, I do remember watching the ads for this movie way back in 2003, and I thought they were really funny. Sadly though, for one reason or another, I never got a chance to watch it. But thanks to this series, I finally get an opportunity to watch this movie, after shying away from it for so long.
I don't know a whole lot about this movie, outside of the fact that it's a comedy. I know, at least, three people that star in this movie. Those three being Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, and John Ritter. And I know that all three of them are genuinely funny, so I'm hoping that they'll be able to carry this movie forward. I don't know what the plot is to this thing, because I wanted to go into this movie as blind as possible. I also know that this movie has a sequel that came out in 2016. However, I cannot guarantee that I will cover the sequel. I gotta see if I can get through this first movie.
I'm genuinely hoping that this movie is going to be really good. However, I'm also prepared for this movie to really suck. I certainly hope that it doesn't suck, but I won't know if it's good or not until I start watching this thing. So, really, the only thing for me to do at this point, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Bad Santa".
7 minutes later
Wait a second...that tune...is that "Once Upon A Dream" from "Sleeping Beauty" playing in the background? Holy shit, it sounds very much like it! I know you guys can't hear this for obvious reasons, but this tune sounds almost exactly like that song from "Sleeping Beauty". I never thought I would hear that rendition in a movie like this. That's just totally unexpected.
2 minutes later
Wow. OK, that was probably one of the more extreme reactions I have seen someone give out when Christmas music is playing. And, you know, I would expect a lot of people to have that similar reaction, seeing as how a lot of people that I know don't like Christmas music. I don't know if they would throw their alarm clock at the wall, much like Willie did, but still, I could totally expect a similar reaction towards Christmas music.
7 minutes later
You know, guys, I am really liking how Willie sounds like he just doesn't give a fuck every time a kid asks him what they want for Christmas. I understand that it's not the most professional thing to do, but there's something about it that's just really charming. I just thought I should mention that.
11 minutes later
That was probably the easiest fucking steal in this entire movie. So, Willie brought this kid that was stalking him home. He asks if his Dad has a safe, and lets him take everything in it. And he even takes his Dad's car. Well...if anything, maybe the thieves in "Home Alone" should take a note from Willie. That's probably the easiest thing they could fucking do. But hey, maybe that's just me.
11 minutes later
Guys, I am loving Willie more and more with each scene. There's just something about a guy who does not give a fuck about anyone, even though his job is that he's suppose to be Santa Claus. It is just some of the funniest shit, and I'm almost loving every moment of it.
18 minutes later
You know, guys, I'm gonna talk more about this later on in the review, but the cursing in this movie is rather excessive. I kinda expected that, being that this is an R rated movie, but it is REALLY noticeable. Mind you, the movie's been really funny so far, but it is something that is worth mentioning.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Bad Santa". Let me shut me the movie off...OK. Well...what to say about this? I kinda expected to like this movie, and yeah, I really did like this thing. However, I should probably get into the review proper.
I'm gonna start with writing. And I want to start with something that will, most likely, turn off a lot of viewers, which would be the swearing. This movie is not shy about using swear words. And in most cases, I would say that would be kind of a detriment to a lot of movies. Because when a movie does use a lot of swear words, it would usually sound like they're trying too hard make their movie sound edgy and cool. And I know a lot of people don't like swearing for one reason or another. So, I do have to warn you ahead of time that this movie is probably not going to be for those who don't like tons of swearing in their movies. That being said, I do believe that this was intentional. Not just the fact that this movie was rated R, but I do remember seeing the ads for this movie way back in 2003, and there was quite a bit of swearing from the time that I use to watch those ads. Mind you, it has been a long time since I've seen those ads, but I do vaguely remember them. And most of the swearing in this movie comes from our two main characters, which would be Willie and Marcus. These two swear a lot. Most of the time, they will either say 'fuck' or 'shit', and, like I said, they're not shy about using them in any context. Now, is some of this swearing forced? Sometimes, yes. However, I don't think it's as bad as I thought it would be. If the writing were complete shit, then I would totally say that it would bring this movie down. Because then, it would be trying way too hard to sound funny. However, the writing, and the humor, is really funny in a lot of areas. And I am happy to say that the ads for this movie that I watched way back when definitely lives up to that. But then again, like I mentioned way back in my review of "Santa with Muscles", I usually try to avoid a lot of the family types of Christmas movies, because a lot of them are just the same kinds of cookie-cutter Christmas movies that really don't try anything new or different. And while I will say that this movie could be considered nothing special, it's something that I can overlook, because the humor is just fucking funny as shit.
That being said, I will admit that the story is incredibly paper-thin, and rather non-existent. Basically, our main characters, Willie and Marcus, are taking on jobs at malls as Santa and the elf. The elf, of course, being Marcus. And the reason why that they take on these jobs is because they are really just thieves who take anything valuable from the malls that they work at, such as money, and anything else valuable. And in the particular mall that they work at, the mall manager, who is played by John Ritter, suspects that they are suspicious, so he gets his mall detective, which is Bernie Mac's characters, to try and dig up some dirt on them so that he can fire them. What I find strange about this is that he doesn't fire them when, at one point, Willie is fucking a woman in the changing room. And the fact that he overheard Willie say that "You're not going to shit properly for a month". Which, again, is rather strange, so I'm curious as to WHY he didn't fire him then and there, but oh well. And later on, when the mall detective does find out about Willie and Marcus's heist history, he decides that he wants a taste of it for himself. And by that, I mean that he wants half of whatever they steal at the mall that they are currently working at. I won't go any further on those particular details, on the off chance that you want to go and see this movie for yourself. But, in real honesty, the story in this movie takes a back seat to the humor. Because that's where this movie really shines. Again, most people are going to be turned off by the excessive amount of swearing in this movie. However, this movie also provides a lot of sexual and physical humor, and it's still really funny. And if you, yourself, are into this sort of humor, then you're really gonna love this movie, because it provides quite a bit of it. Now, since I mentioned that this movie's story takes a back seat to the humor, if you're someone who's expecting a lot of plot and development, this movie's not really going to do that. This movie knows what it wants to be, and it stays like that for the 88 minute runtime.
What helps this movie's humor is the characters. I'm gonna start with Willie, which is Billy Bob Thornton's character in this film. He is not likable in almost any sense. And normally, when I say that a character is not likable, that would mean, almost, death to a movie. Because if you don't have likable characters, or if your characters are not developed properly, then your movie is headed for a disaster. However, I really do think that it was intentional, and it really makes his character that much more charming. Willie drinks a lot, swears a lot, does not like children, and fucks a lot of women. Hell, going back to the kids, he will swear in front of these children while he's doing his job as a mall Santa, and it is nothing but gold when he does this, because he really sounds like he doesn't give a fuck about them, and it's some of the funniest bits in this entire movie. Now, part of the reason why that works, at least for me, is that I'm not a fan of children either, so that may help as to why I like Willie a lot in this movie. Speaking of children, I do want to touch upon the only real problem that I do have with this movie, and it has to do with this one kid that Willie interacts with. First of all, he doesn't get named until well over an hour into the movie. And his name is Thurman Merman. I'm not totally sure WHY it took over an hour for the movie to name this kid, but whatever. So, we first get introduced to Thurman, when he gets off the bus and goes to straight to the mall. And, somehow, someway, he thinks that Willie is the real Santa. And because of that, he asks a ton of questions. Such as "Where are your reindeer?, "Where do they rest at night?", etc, etc. He will ask a TON of questions, especially trivial questions, which drives Willie insane. And you could totally see why, because nobody would be thinking about that kind of shit. Well, unless if you're some aficionado of Santa for some weird reason, but I'm getting off track here. My question is why did this kid choose THIS guy out of everyone to think that he is the real Santa? I don't understand that, because the guy obviously doesn't look anything like him, so why did he choose Willie? Now, you could write it off as the kid is stupid as shit, and he totally is. However, there is kind of a reason for why he chose him. And I'm going to give a little bit of a spoiler. When Willie does tell him that he's not the real Santa, the kid does know this, and after showing him his report card, he was hoping that he would be a good kid this year so that he could get a gift from him, and that they could be friends. Which, OK, I guess that kinda, sorta, makes sense. But I'm still curious as to why Thurman chose him of all people to get a gift for him. I don't know, but it does come off as a little strange to me. Beyond that, though, the writing is still really good, and the humor is what's really going to sell you on this movie.
Now, let's get into the acting. The acting is really good, and I'm even going to include the kid that played Thurman. Which is stellar, because I've often talked about child actors being the worst actors by default when being asked to act. However, this kid does a really decent job here. And I'm kinda shocked that they were able to find a decent child actor that was able to make his dialogue work. But the one who really steals the show in this movie is Billy Bob Thornton. I can tell you without even trying that he was having a blast in his role. The way he gives out his dialogue, especially when he has to do his job as a mall Santa, is fucking brilliant. Which makes me curious as to what he does in the sequel that came out years and years later. And yes, by the way, this movie made me interested in checking out the sequel. I'm not sure if I'll even cover it next year, but we'll just have to wait and see. I also know that this was John Ritter's last film, because at the start of the closing credits, it starts with a text saying "In Loving Memory of John Ritter". And he does a pretty good job here, too, for the short time that he's in the movie, anyway. I don't know if it was because they didn't give him much to work with, or if he had unfortunately passed away during production. I don't know, and I'm not going to go too much into that. But setting that aside, the acting is really strong from the entire cast, so I can say that everyone was able to make their roles work well.
The only real special effect that I could find from this movie is a shade of blood on Thurman's present towards the very end of the film. And it's just there, really. So I don't have really much to say involving special effects.
Camerawork is really good. Lighting is lit well. Sound-mix is mixed properly. I do want to touch upon music. There is one piece of it that I caught early on in the movie. And it's a song that is very reminiscent to, or it might've been, "Once Upon A Dream" from "Sleeping Beauty". I'm pretty sure that this was a public domain version of the song, and not the version from the Disney animated film from 1959. I will say that the song was pretty good. But then again, I also really liked the song, and the music, from that movie, anyways. So, it's no real shocker that I would also like this version of the song in this movie. While I'm on the subject of music, there is also quite a bit of Christmas music in this movie. Some of you may happen to recall, back when I reviewed "Santa with Muscles", I commented in my review of that film that there was a surprisingly lack of Christmas music in that movie, despite the fact that it was a Christmas film. I'm not totally sure why that is, but it was definitely noticeable. This movie, on the other hand, definitely has a lot of Christmas music. And a couple of these songs are from Frank Sinatra, which is perfectly fine, because I happen to really like his music. So, it's definitely a step-up from the previous Christmas film that I covered way back in July. So really, the Christmas music here is perfectly fine. At least, to me, it is.
So, when all is said and done, can I recommend "Bad Santa"? Oh, certainly. I definitely had a lot of fun watching this movie. Now again, I have to stress that because there is a lot of swearing in this film, it's going to turn off a lot of viewers. So I obviously need to make a mention of that here. Also, this movie is definitely not going to appeal to family friendly audiences. So, if you're someone who prefers watching the safe, clean, family Christmas films, there is no way in hell I'm going to recommend this to you. However, if you're someone who is looking for a Christmas film that is different, and doesn't really cater itself to the family friendly status of Christmas movies, then I can totally recommend this movie. It is a fun Christmas movie. It is funny as hell, and this thing is definitely going to be added to the list of Christmas movies that I will watch every year. It is just that great. Now...as for me, I think I'm gonna go and watch another Christmas film. I'm gonna see if they're running "The Santa Clause" on TV. While it is a family Christmas film, it is one of the very few that I really do enjoy. So, I'm gonna go do that, and this movie is gonna have a happy spot on my DVD shelf.
Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and have a very Merry Christmas. Peace.
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