IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

Register | Log In | What is RT?
It's our 10th birthday, so you get presents!
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
 
MOVIES / ON DVD / BAD SANTA
Bad Santa

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
See Pictures
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Bad Santa (2003)

77%
100%
80%
N/A
N/A
N/A
77 %
Reviews Counted: 179 Fresh: 137  Rotten:42 Average Rating: 6.7/10
 
Consensus: This black comedy isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproaringly funny.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Synopsis: This holiday season the traditional Christmas tale will never be the same with the cleverly twisted, merrily irreverent story of a Santa so bad he's wickedly funny. Terry Zwigoff's BAD SANTA stars Billy Bob Thornton as one of the most crooked, corrupted and downright hysterical Kris... This holiday season the traditional Christmas tale will never be the same with the cleverly twisted, merrily irreverent story of a Santa so bad he's wickedly funny. Terry Zwigoff's BAD SANTA stars Billy Bob Thornton as one of the most crooked, corrupted and downright hysterical Kris Kringles ever to grace the screen. Inspired by a mix of movie classics including the outrageous one-liners and outcasts of "The Bad News Bears" and the riotous impertinence of "South Park," with a dash of the holiday spirit of "A Christmas Carol," albeit one that would make Dickens wince, BAD SANTA is a Christmas comedy unlike any other. On the heels of two films that brought him a hip, cult following and critical acclaim – "Crumb" and "Ghost World" – director Terry Zwigoff emerges with his most accessible comedy to date, all the while pulling no punches on a wild ride through Christmas' outlandish, funnier side. Laughing riotously all the way, the film skewers such classic holiday traditions as rampant commercialism, smart-mouthed mall rugrats and Santa's saintly image. Billy Bob Thornton is Willie T. Stokes, a washed-up, wise-cracking Department Store Santa who can't help but be more naughty than nice. Underneath his ill-fitting red suit, Willie is actually a safecracker who makes one big score every year – on Christmas Eve. As shoppers head home from the mall, this Santa and his ingenious Elf – Willie's midget partner-incrime Marcus (TONY COX) – crack the store safe and make off with their own holiday stash. But then comes Phoenix. Here Santa and his Elf find their annual heist endangered by a pesky store manager (JOHN RITTER), a savvy mall detective (BERNIE MAC), a sexy Santa fan (LAUREN GRAHAM) and an innocent but beleaguered 8 year-old misfit (BRETT KELLY) who decides to believe that Willie – as intoxicated, acid-tongued and felonious as he seems to be -- is the real Santa he's been seeking. BAD SANTA stars a comic ensemble that includes Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, John Ritter (reuniting with Billy Bob Thornton for the first time since "Sling Blade"), Lauren Graham, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Cloris Leachman and Lauren Tom. The film is directed by Terry Zwigoff from a script by the team of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. The executive producers are Joel and Ethan Coen and the producers are Sarah Aubrey, John Cameron and Bob Weinstein. -- © Dimension Films [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, John Ritter, Cloris Leachman

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Screenwriter: John Requa, Glenn Ficarra

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 11, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image
4/5

A delightfully obscene alternative to the usual Christmas tosh.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/01/06
Adam Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Wonderfully tasteless, gloriously non-PC, admirably bilious; humourless souls should steer clear.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

It's a one-joke flick, really, but a rib-cracking one at that.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/30/04
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
5/5

Offbeat, hilarious and gleefully misanthropic, this is the perfect antidote to Hollywood’s annual glut of sugary Christmas movies.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/23/04
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image
4/5

This film is a breath of fresh air at a time when movies try far too hard to keep everyone unruffled.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/16/04
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/27/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image
N/A

Zwigoff and company wring some laughs out of it, though the tone is uniformly mean and vulgar.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/27/07
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Ratings Image
5/5

The movie is less about gaining the Christmas spirit than about defying the corporate ethos that hijacks and then abandons that spirit every year.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
B

A movie that grows on you...Underneath layers of anger, sarcasm, profanity and booze, Bad Santa ultimately reveals a soft heart.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/28/06
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com
Ratings Image
3/4

...deserves a place among treasured Christmas pictures - as it certainly provides a welcome respite from the relentless holiday cheer that generally accompanies such films.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/17/06
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image
3/5

full review in Greek

Full Review | comment Comment
10/03/06
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses
Ratings Image
7/10

Bad Santa forme au final une comédie dépravée et grinçante dont on ne peut que savourer chaque excès avec un plaisir coupable

Full Review | comment Comment
06/05/06
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama
Ratings Image
1/5

The script is grade Z Adam Sandler fare.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
KJ Doughton
Film Threat
Ratings Image
4/10

BAD SANTA is one of those few Hollywood films that live to their names.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/26/05
Dragan Antulov
Draxblog Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
A-

For those who loathe the holidays or have a blacker-than-normal sense of humor, this is best gift you could possibly get this holiday season.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/05
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony
Ratings Image
A-

An uproarious all-out assault on propriety.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/03/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Each scene is expertly laid out and when the film wraps at its unlikely conclusion, the audience will be glad it sat down to such a vile but hilarious picture.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/17/05
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
Ratings Image
2.5/5

The script may not be too smart, but its well paced with the gags flying thick and fast.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/02/05
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image
3/5

While Bad Santa is consistently funny, it sometimes feels more like a long comedy sketch rather than an actual film.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/05/05
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic
Ratings Image
A

It is smart satire, a rare thing these days, caustic but useful in a way most seasonal timewasters are not.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/07/05
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
See More Topics...

Related Forums

Darko, Donnie
BAD SANTA may be a bad way to start your Xmas movie marathon (unless you're Scrooge?)
by: Darko, Donnie 12/18/07


[Quite Urgent] Name of Song
by: UgOzY 5/31/07


jpmbroadway
Bad Santa
by: jpmbroadway 1/14/07


jpmbroadway
Bad Santa
by: jpmbroadway 1/14/07


Soundtrack
by: petetxyz 1/10/05
all

Pictures

all

Trailers & Clips

Bad Santa Trailer
Watch Now >>
all

News

Ewan McGregor to Star with Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris
posted by Jeff Giles December 18, 2007
Over the course of his long film career, Jim Carrey has played characters who have had the hots for Cameron Diaz, Renee...


Anyone Up for a "Bad Santa 2"?
posted by Scott Weinberg February 16, 2007
Now here's some potential sequel news that I didn't see coming: A follow-up to "Bad Santa"? Really?...


RT's Top Yuletide Comedies -- Christmas Countdown, Day One
posted by Jeff Giles December 18, 2006
Welcome to RT's Five Days of Christmas Countdown, where we serve up a different list each day of the best holiday flicks...


Box Office Guru Preview: Ashton vs. Ashton - This Time It's Personal
posted by Gitesh Pandya September 28, 2006
Ashton Kutcher fans get two chances to see (or hear) their favorite star this weekend as the Hollywood prankster takes...

Around the Network

• Bad Santa at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bad Santa at IGN
• Bad Santa at AskMen
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.