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The Movie:
"What's it like at the North Pole?"
"Like the suburbs."
"Bad Santa" certainly does offer a great idea - a department store Santa hugely upset with where his life has ended up who makes a criminal living robbing the department stores he and his partner (Tony Cox) have found themselves working in. The film, produced by the Coen Brothers ("Fargo") and directed by Terry Zwigoff ("Crumb") has become a cult hit, although it's taken me a few viewings to warm up to it.
The film focuses on the santa of the title, Willie (Billy Bob Thornton), who finds himself hired on - along with his partner - in yet another mall in yet another town by yet another owner (the late John Ritter). In need of a place to live, he crashes with a kid named Thurman (Brett Kelly) who "believes" Willie is Santa and who lives alone with his senile grandmother. The romantic interest (Lauren Graham) is a bartender with a serious thing for Santas. Even so, it's terribly difficult to believe that Graham's character would - santa fixation or no - find anything of interest in the foul-mouthed, angry, drunken Willie.
And, if anything, the main concern that I still have with the picture is that I don't believe that Willie has softened by the end of the film. While Thornton turns in a funny performance, it's so irritable and so foul-mouthed that I didn't think one good-natured kid (who remains good-natured, despite the fact that Willie throws just about every insult in the book at him) could turn his Christmas spirit around at all by the film's end. The film still seems to coast on the idea of a vulgar Santa, which is amusing, but the joke starts to wear a little thin at times.
"Santa" has been presented in a theatrical cut version, a longer "unrated" version and now this "director's cut" version. The director's cut is actually a few minutes shorter than the theatrical version, as material has been replaced and new material has been added. However, the differences between the versions seem slight - I've watched all three versions and nothing really jumped out at me as being noticably different. This version seems a little more dry and a little more verbally profane than the theatrical cut, but that's about it.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Bad Santa" is presented by Dimension in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality is still surprisingly average on this new edition, with some noticable problems. Sharpness and detail are simply okay; the picture mostly appeared fairly well-defined and crisp, but could seem somewhat on the soft side at times.
Other issues occured, as well: some light/mild edge enhancement was occasionally visible, as were some compression artifacts. The print used here also looked a bit spotty at times, with some visible specks and marks. The film's color palette remained subdued, for the most part (aside from a few vibrant moments here and there), and seemed accurately rendered here.
SOUND: "Bad Santa" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's soundtrack was largely front-heavy, with only slight reinforcement of the music by the surrounds. The rear speakers really didn't have anything else to contribute, and the soundtrack remained focused on the dialogue. Audio quality was fine, as dialogue and the score both sounded crisp and clear.
EXTRAS: Director Terry Zwigoff and editor Robert Hoffman offer an audio commentary for the film. The two discuss the director's cut version, which is Zwigoff's preferred version of the movie. The two have a good time chatting about the making of the movie, discussing casting, tone, Thornton's performance and more. I also enjoyed the fact that they occasionally discuss scenes or issues that didn't work, such as a moment where the two admit that they (nor producers the Coen Brothers) could quite develop Graham's character in the way they wanted. They do point out some differences in the "director's cut" version, but there doesn't seem to be vast changes versus prior versions.
Also included on this edition are four deleted scenes, a short promotional featurette and about 4 minutes of amusing outtakes.
Final Thoughts: "Bad Santa" has its moments and the performances are solid, but the film's main joke of a foul-mouthed Santa wears a little thin after a while. The DVD offers average audio/video quality and a nice set of supplements. Those who have not yet bought the film on DVD should check out this release, but others who already own the film should stick with whichever of the prior releases they own.
Film Grade
The Film B-
DVD Grades
Video 86/B
Audio: 85/B
Extras: 81/B
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