Bad Santa (2003)
Billy Bob Thornton is a God Among Men.
I don't care about the blood lockets. The five wives. The unsightly hair plugs. The fear of antique furniture and the colour orange.
He is, I believe, the most consistently great American actor today. The best. Sean Penn, whom I will always love, gets lost in his Method tricks and Johnny Depp, poetic as he is, cannot function without quirks.
Bad Santa is in concept an unholy Christmas caper version of Shallow Hall in message and Meet The Parents in tone. As Marvin said, mercy, mercy me. With Thornton in the read role, the saccharine elements become something touching and decent and the savagery of the character is not for mockery, but contains humanity and desperation. Having read that, I'm overshelling the movie. But if this movie had starred Jack Black, it would have sunk faster than Catwoman. It's not Groundhog Day. It's not It's A Wonderful Life (thank The Maker!) Instead, it doesn't ultimately torture the characters and is even semi-funny. Bonus!
I don't care about the blood lockets. The five wives. The unsightly hair plugs. The fear of antique furniture and the colour orange.
He is, I believe, the most consistently great American actor today. The best. Sean Penn, whom I will always love, gets lost in his Method tricks and Johnny Depp, poetic as he is, cannot function without quirks.
Bad Santa is in concept an unholy Christmas caper version of Shallow Hall in message and Meet The Parents in tone. As Marvin said, mercy, mercy me. With Thornton in the read role, the saccharine elements become something touching and decent and the savagery of the character is not for mockery, but contains humanity and desperation. Having read that, I'm overshelling the movie. But if this movie had starred Jack Black, it would have sunk faster than Catwoman. It's not Groundhog Day. It's not It's A Wonderful Life (thank The Maker!) Instead, it doesn't ultimately torture the characters and is even semi-funny. Bonus!