Taglines: He doesn’t care if you’re naughty or nice.
Bad Santa movie storyline. 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-in crime 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 is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Terry Zwigoff, and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, John Ritter, and Bernie Mac. It was John Ritter’s last film appearance before his death on September 11, 2003. The movie was dedicated to Ritter’s memory. The Coen brothers are credited as executive producers.
The film was released in the United States on November 26, 2003, and was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. An unrated version was released on DVD on March 5, 2004 and on Blu-ray Disc on November 20, 2007 as Bad(der) Santa. A director’s cut DVD was released in November 2006; it features Zwigoff’s cut of the film (including an audio commentary with him and the film’s editor), which is three minutes shorter than the theatrical cut and ten minutes shorter than the unrated version. A sequel, Bad Santa 2, was released on November 23, 2016.
Bad Santa (2003)
Directed by: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lauren Graham, John Ritter, Bernie Mac, Lauren Tom, Tony Cox, Lorna Scott, Alex Borstein, Lisa Ross, Billy Gardell, Alexandra Korhan
Screenplay by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Production Design by: Sharon Seymour
Cinematography by: Jamie Anderson
Film Editing by: Robert Hoffman
Costume Design by: Wendy Chuck
Set Decoration by: Robert Greenfield
Music by: David Kitay
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, strong sexual content, some violence.
Distributed by: Dimension Films
Release Date: December 11, 2003
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