MOVIE · 2003

Bad Santa

ComedyCrimeDrama92 min

Willie T. Soke is a department-store Santa who uses the holiday gig as cover for Christmas Eve robberies with his partner Marcus, the mall’s elf. Billy Bob Thornton’s Willie is drunk, abrasive, and barely able to stand the kids lined up for photos, while Tony Cox’s Marcus keeps the scam moving from mall to mall. Their routine starts to crack when a sharp store detective begins watching them, a bartender takes an interest in Willie, and an awkward boy who believes Willie is the real Santa won’t leave him alone. What begins as a seasonal heist is derailed by the kid’s attention and Willie’s inability to brush him off.