As usual in Christmas, two depressed men, Willie, a conman and his assistant the midget Marcus, who unlike other people, wait Christmas only to rob, as they have been disguised by dressing as Santa Claus and his assistant to rob shops, but once upon meeting a young boy, who teaches them valuable lessons in the true meaning of Christmas.
The movie's one joke -- which will endure for the ages -- is the defamation of the Christmas spirit by Billy Bob Thornton, who stars as a drunken, chain-smoking, dirty-minded, incontinent, foul-mouthed and larcenous department-store Santa.
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.
Much like School Of Rock, Bad Santa salvages a tired, paint-by-numbers formula by resisting it every step of the way, stubbornly refusing to stop its juvenile fun until the last possible moment.
If Bad Santa does well at the box office, Zwigoff will get credit for being a savvy player. That Bad Santa is as vile and stupid as Ghost World was insightful and touching is something Hollywood has no interest in measuring.
