Bad Santa

Family associations, conservative groups, religious organizations, and Matt Drudge may be up in arms over Miramax's Bad Santa, suggesting that the film sullies the reputation of Disney for championing traditional heroes and values, but critics, by and large, find the film to be a splendid antidote to the commercialism of the holiday. Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times, for example, writes that the movie takes all the Christmas season's bad vibes and converts them into an achingly funny and corrupt dark comedy. Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News remarks: For adults with a fondness for dark wit, Bad Santa is a holiday feast. Several critics do warn that this is not a movie for kids. Parents, I'll only say this once: Look at the name of the movie. Check out the reasons for the R rating, is the way Ty Burr begins his review in the Boston Globe. Bad Santa is a demented, twisted, unreasonably funny work of comic kamikaze style, starring Billy Bob Thornton as Santa in a performance that's defiantly uncouth, writes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. Some critics bemoan the fact that the content of the film leaves them powerless to write effectively about it. Jan Stuart in Newsday, for example, calls the film a foul-mouthed joy for much of the way. However, he adds: There are at least a dozen quote-worthy lines, and not a single one is quotable in a family newspaper. As for the groups who have lambasted the movie, Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post suggests that the movie was not intended for them -- that it is squarely aimed at those who occupy a strange psychological state that might be called 'generally happy unhappiness,' [who will appreciate] the delight it takes in the trashing of all that is dear, sweet and holy. As for the rest of you: Hello, that's why they have multiplexes. It's called, like, make another choice.