Bad Santa

Willie T. Soke is not your typical department store Santa. He drinks on the job, curses at children, and spends his off-hours planning robberies with his partner, Marcus. Bad Santa, directed by Terry Zwigoff and released in 2003, stars Billy Bob Thornton as Willie, a misanthropic conman who, along with Marcus (Tony Cox), poses as Santa and his elf to case malls for theft. Their latest target, a Phoenix mall, becomes complicated when a lonely, bullied kid (Brett Kelly) latches onto Willie as the real Santa Claus, and a bartender with a Santa fetish (Lauren Graham) takes a liking to him. The film also features John Ritter in his final role as the mall's flustered manager. Made for $23 million, the movie grossed $76.5 million worldwide, a solid return for an R-rated comedy. Critics and audiences responded to its gleefully profane take on holiday cheer, and it has since become a cult favorite, spawning a 2016 sequel. With a rating of 6.6 on IMDb, it's a divisive but enduring entry in the anti-Christmas canon.[edit]