Billy Bob's Filmography

BAD SANTA (2003)
and
BADDER SANTA (2004)

Movie Quote
WILLIE:  I've been to prison once. I've been married twice. I was once drafted by Lyndon Johnson and had to live in shit-ass Mexico for 2½ years for no reason. I've had my eye socket punched in, a kidney taken out, and I got a bone chip in my ankle that's never gonna heal. I've seen some pretty shitty situations in my life, but nothing has ever sucked more ass than this!

Plot
Terry Zwigoff, who helmed the superb documentary CRUMB and the excellent GHOST WORLD, brings us tidings of comfort and joy in the form of the drunken, lowdown, dirty Willie Soke--the world's worst department store Santa. Willie is actually a master safecracker who works with his elf Marcus (played by Tony Cox), moving from mall to mall to play Santa at Christmas time, using their access as employees to case the malls and department stores for robbery.  When a nebbishy, but sweet little boy latches on to Willie, believing that he's really Santa, Willie takes advantage of the situation to hide out at the boy's house.  As Christmas Eve draws nigh and Willie and Marcus prepare to plunder the store, the debauched Santa-for-hire reluctantly takes an interest in the kid and cultivates a romance with a local bartender (Lauren Graham), who has a yen for men in Santa suits.  There isn't a politically correct bone to be found in this film.

What Billy Bob Gets To Do
Cuss, drink, wear a Santa suit, drink, get thrown up on, drink, canoodle with heavyset women, drink, burgle, drink, swipe a car, drink, wet himself, drink, evade arrest, drink . . . . Billy Bob does for Christmas movies what Lee Marvin did for the western in CAT BALLOU. 

Backstory
BAD SANTA also stars John Ritter, Lauren Graham, Cloris Leachman, Lauren Tom, and Bernie Mac, along with Brett Kelly as the kid who gloms on to Santa in a big way.  Sadly, John Ritter's abrupt and untimely death in 2002 made this his final, yet endearing, screen performance.  Here's a triumphant note:  with BAD SANTA grossing over $60 million, it became the first bona fide box office hit that Billy Bob has carried by himself.  

We visited the set of BAD SANTA, which was built in a vacant department store at the end of the Del Amo Fashion Center in Los Angeles (you may recall that mall's brilliant performance in JACKIE BROWN).  We can attest to the fact that Billy donned he now his gay apparel: a bona fide Santa suit, complete with snappy black boots and a scraggly beard. The story transpires in a department store somewhere in the Southwest, so the art crew gave the yuletide decorations a really loopy New Mexico motif (coyotes, cacti, a corral instead of a workshop for Santa, and the elf played by Tony Cox wore blue felt chaps!). We remarked on the fact that none of the toys or any other merchandise in the store had a recognizable brand name or corporate logo--very cool!  We can attest to the fact that the snacks were great (thanks for the lemon cheesecake, Billy!), and the cast and crew and producer Sara Aubrey could not have been kinder to BBT's two webmistresses. 

In 2004, BAD SANTA finally got its international release to enthusiastic critical acclaim.  Proof positive that people the world-round are sick of treacly stories about consumer Christmases.  Ho ho ho!

Awards (for Billy Bob Thornton)
Golden Globe (Best Actor, Motion Picture, Musical/Comedy) - 2004 - Nomination
Golden Satellite Award (Best Actor, Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical) - 2004 - Nomination

Awards (for BAD SANTA)
Golden Satellite Award (Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical) - 2004 - Nomination

Relevant Links
IMDb Link
Jo Blo preview page
Box Office Prophets preview page
Coming Soon! Film Database preview page with a gallery link

Related Merchandise
Christmas songs aplenty on the soundtrack CD.  Pity Billy Bob didn't endorse any official nuggets of coal in a sock.

BBT On DVD
Yahoo! Three, count 'em, three versions are available in plenty of time for Christmas shopping.  The standard, R-rated version that was released in theaters is titled BAD SANTA, and the unrated, director's cut version, is titled BADDER SANTA.  Both include Terry Zwigoff's commentary, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, outtakes, bloopers, and a tribute to John Ritter.  Then there's the BAD SANTA: DIRECTOR'S CUT (not to be confused with the unrated BADDER SANTA) with new audio commentary by Terry Zwigoff and editor Robert Hoffman, deleted and alternative scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and outtakes. Being a Billy Bob geek, I've got all three, of course.

Pity none of these versions include the recipe for that killer-bee lemon cheesecake that Billy Bob fed us.

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© 2005 by . . . Like the Wind Productions/Lonesome Rogues Design. This page is intended for entertainment and reference purposes only and is not intended to make a profit.  Film commentary reflects the opinions of the webmasters Amélie and Sage and not the opinions of Billy Bob Thornton or his representatives.