Slowly crawling toward the end of a bar, covered in smoke and reeking of alcohol, that is not the spirit of Christmas. Solemn looking, urinating on himself and traipsing through his career with drink and theft, Santa Claus firing through safes and knocking back drinks is a unique way to look at Christmas. By that, it is clear Bad Santa hopes to fire through with an anti-Christmas mentality. The most wonderful time of the year is not that for everyone, and by engaging those active choices to stave off the lovely times of the year, Bad Santa finds glumness and addiction at the core of the festive season, rather than the particularly tinsel-clad charms of the season. Engaging with that, more than anything, is an interesting change of pace for Terry Zwigoff to play with.
Drink, sex and rage power Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton), a man who plays out a festive rendition of Leaving Las Vegas’ alcoholic miseries. There is futility at the heart of Thornton’s performance, an interesting perspective that sees Zwigoff rip him away from the Christmas spirit almost entirely. There are few, belated references to the festive season – most of it not mattering when it comes to the actual thefts and moments of living it large in Miami. Addiction bleeds through, though. That must push through. Thornton pushes forth as a great resemblance of a man at the end of his tether, and paired with the likes of Bernie Mac and Tony Cox makes for an interesting experience.
Interesting does not translate to quality, though. Bad Santa is not particularly funny and it is stuck in its Americanised, mall Santa-going, horrors of the f-word experiences. Thornton is the real glue for this experience though, his accent and attitude lend itself to the obvious change of pace that comes from a festive face being a gritty, drunken loser. Iterations of the real deal have been expressed before. Fatman occupies the action territory, The Santa Clause the retirement phase. With Bad Santa, the elements of the festive season are extracted from the mythology that surrounds it, grounded in the real world and exposed as absolute vulgarity. There is a brilliance to that, much of Bad Santa works because it is devoid of reason.
It is not as though any of it matters. Bad Santa is devoid of its Christmas spirit and as the turns begin to grow darker and darker, it is hard to feel any festive cheer at all. Its resolutions come thick and fast in a moment that does not consider the darker periods. Characters are cast aside because that is what the time of moviemaking demanded, the nerdy manager, the romantic interest. They are all clear and present but never quite necessary. There is purpose to Soke as an individual, the journey he takes and the philosophical elements that come with his rise and rise to salvation. Whether that is deserved or not is beyond the point. Salvation isn’t far off for a man dressed as Santa, even when it is hard to see where his redemption lies.
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