'

Bad Santa

Play trailer

Bad Santa

R

Released Nov 26, 2003

1h 33m

Holiday

Comedy

Crime

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

219 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

In this dark comedy, the crotchety Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) and his partner (Tony Cox) reunite once a year for a holiday con. Posing as a mall Santa and his elf, they rip off shopping outlets on Christmas Eve. This year, however, Willie is falling apart. He's depressed and alcoholic, and his erratic behavior draws the suspicion of mall security (Bernie Mac). But when befriending a small boy brings out his kinder side, Willie begins to wonder if there is still some hope for him.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

A gloriously rude and gleefully offensive black comedy, Bad Santa isn't for everyone, but grinches will find it uproariously funny.

Read Critics Reviews

Nick Schager

The Daily Beast

Climactic uplift is far less important than the bawdy, nasty, inappropriate hilarity peddled by Terry Zwigoff’s 2003 gem, which also benefits from the participation of the late Bernie Mac and John Ritter.

Dec 5, 2022

Full Review

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

In the annals of movie profanity, this movie would rate an Oscar, but it's actually pretty sweet at heart, although never sentimental. And if you don't believe me, you know what you can do.

Dec 14, 2014

Full Review

David Ansen

Newsweek

An antidote to forced holiday cheer, this scabrously funny misanthropic comedy is not for the whole family.

Dec 14, 2014

Full Review

David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

The film contains perhaps 90 seconds of genuine amusement. The rest is forced, juvenile, "off."

Feb 15, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

His journey of humanization (or the softening of a terribly hardened heart) is sometimes genuinely poignant, even when it's surrounded by preposterously reprehensible conduct.

Rated: 8/10

Sep 25, 2020

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Lauren Graham was wonderful as the sweet, at times horny, bartender with a thing for Santa.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 2, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Aleksandar D

Can't get more ridiculous than this. It kinda reminds me of what I would be like if I was Santa.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/26/24

Full Review

Lon A

Absolutely hilarious!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/26/24

Full Review

Herbert T

It's a Terry Zwigoff movie, what else could I say? It's a shame that Hollywood has no more space for this kind of movies. They're lost in non-sense superhero movies scripted by A.I. Zwigoff's portrait of society it's present on this comedy also, and beautifully portrayed by each colorful character like he used to do on each of his movies. The cast was amazingly well done. And the movie goes out of all the common places which all Christmas movies fell. Sweet but without gives you diabetis... Captures the spirit of Christmas in an oddly way, without the fear of being politically correct, and I love that part.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/25/24

Full Review

Nolan S

Insanely funny, watch every year

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/25

Full Review

ringo l

christmas movie for adults, love how they portray the main character lol

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/24/24

Full Review

matthias s

**Bad Santa** – 2.5 Stars Man, I loved this movie as a kid, but rewatching it now? It’s not quite as good as I remembered. Don’t get me wrong, Billy Bob Thornton is hilarious as the foul-mouthed, booze-soaked Santa, and Bernie Mac absolutely steals every scene he’s in—seriously, the guy is gold. The plot is still such a fun and unorthodox twist on a Christmas movie, and there are some genuinely funny jokes that hit just right. That said, the pacing drags a bit at times. I found myself wanting more jokes at a faster pace to keep the momentum going. It’s still a decent watch if you’re in the mood for a not-so-holiday-holiday movie, but it just didn’t hold up the way I hoped. Funny, but not as sharp or laugh-out-loud as I remembered. A good one-time revisit, but I wouldn’t put it on repeat.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/22/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Terry Zwigoff

Director

Billy Bob Thornton

Willie

Tony Cox

Marcus

Brett Kelly

The Kid

Lauren Graham

Sue

Lauren Tom

Lois

Bad Santa: Official Clip - I'm a Dwarf!

2:10

Bad Santa: Official Clip - Santa's Staying Over

2:09

Bad Santa: Official Clip - Santa's Fatherly Advice

1:48

Bad Santa: Official Clip - He's Freakin' Me Out

2:05

Bad Santa: Official Clip - Nutcracker

1:58

Bad Santa: Official Clip - Bob Chipeska

1:42

Bad Santa: Official Clip - The Three B's

2:03

Bad Santa: Official Clip - Wooden Pickle

2:13

Bad Santa: Official Clip - You People

1:54

Bad Santa: Official Clip - I Always Had a Thing For Santa Claus

2:05

View more videos

Live Free or Die

40%

43%

Live Free or Die

Watchlist

Fakers

38%

33%

Fakers

Watchlist

Reindeer Games

25%

28%

Reindeer Games

Watchlist

Down Terrace

86%

62%

Down Terrace

Watchlist

Suicide Kings

35%

74%

Suicide Kings

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

In this dark comedy, the crotchety Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) and his partner (Tony Cox) reunite once a year for a holiday con. Posing as a mall Santa and his elf, they rip off shopping outlets on Christmas Eve. This year, however, Willie is falling apart. He's depressed and alcoholic, and his erratic behavior draws the suspicion of mall security (Bernie Mac). But when befriending a small boy brings out his kinder side, Willie begins to wonder if there is still some hope for him.

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Producer: John Cameron, Sarah Aubrey, Bob Weinstein
Screenwriter: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Production Co: Triptych Pictures, The KL Line, Columbia Pictures, Dimension Films
Rating: R (Some Violence|Pervasive Language|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre: Holiday, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 26, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 21, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $60.1M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now