Billy Bob Thornton’s darkChristmascomedy franchise is making the holidays a little more twisted, as it climbs up the streaming charts. The multi-talented performer broke through in 1996 with the disturbing dramaSling Blade, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and winning the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Thornton in 1998 picked up another nomination for playing a tortured character in a decidedly dark movie, getting a Best Supporting Actor nod for Sam Raimi’s thrillerA Simple Plan.
Thornton’s most noteworthy early roles indeed placed him on a darkly dramatic path. The star soon veered into the comedy realm, however, with roles that showed his inherently edgy and brooding qualities being adapted to funny material. Thornton went for offbeat chuckles in the black comedyPushing Tin, the dramedyBanditsand the Coen Brothers’ romantic farceIntolerable Cruelty.He also went for somewhat more broadly-appealing guffaws in the remake ofThe Bad News Bears, as well asMr. WoodcockandSchool for Scoundrels.
Willie Soke Might Be Thornton’s Greatest Character
Thornton’s unrelentingly grouchy and acerbic comedic persona came to full flower in 2003, when he played the lead in the anti-holiday comedyBad Santa. Starring as a cranky thief posing as a mall Santa, Thornton helped drive the outrageous laughfest to a worldwide gross of $76 million on a budget of $23 million. 13 years later, Thornton reprised his funniest role for the delayed sequelBad Santa 2, which flopped at the box office with only $24 million in grosses against a budget of $26 million.
TheBad Santasequel may not have been a holiday smash, but it’s proving a hit on streaming, as both it and the originalBad Santafind themselves in Paramount+’s top 10 streaming movies. As of this publishing,Bad Santais at #5 andBad Santa 2is at #8.
Thornton’s Comedies Are A BItter Antidote To Holiday Sweetness
Bad Santawas originally developed by the Coen Brothers, with James Gandolfini intended to star
Bad Santawas indeed marketed as an alternative to the usual jolly, sentimental Christmas movie, and folks back in 2003 were hungry enough for such counter-programming that they made the film a hit.Bad Santa 2might have been a hit as well, had it come out right after the original, but 13 years was too long to wait to put Thornton back in a Santa suit, and the downbeat comedy felt forced.
ThoughBad Santais over 20 years old, it remains a perfect non-traditional Christmas movie, a refreshingly sardonic jolt for those who can’t stomach Hallmark-style holiday schmaltz-fests, nostalgic stop-motion fables or gooey, sentimental seasonal classics. Thornton’s pair ofBad Santamovies rising into the top 10 on Paramount+ shows there are still plenty of folks looking for relief from the season’s feel-good vibes, and not enough new titles around to satisfy their twisted, anti-holiday craving.
Bad Santa
Cast
Bad Santa revolves around Willie T. Stokes and Marcus Skidmore, professional thieves who disguise themselves as a mall Santa Claus and his elf during the holiday season with the plan to rob them at the end of the shopping season. Their latest job becomes complicated when Willie, already struggling from alcoholism, sex addiction and frequently swearing, begins forming an odd friendship with dimwitted Thurman Merman, dating local bartender Sue and coming under the watchful eye of the latest target mall’s head of security, Gin Slagel.
