BAD SANTA 2
US, 2016, 92 minutes, Colour.
Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox, Christina Hendricks, Brett Kelly, Ryan Hansen, Jenny Zigrino, Jeff Skowron, Octavia Spencer.
Directed by Mark Waters.
The original Bad Santa lived up to its name. The sequel, over a decade later, capitalising on (or exploiting) a perceived greater freedom in what can be up there on the screen, to be seen, to be heard, Bad Santa 2, certainly lives up to its name!
Santa is bad in his attitudes (amoral, sexist, racist, criminal – but with a dollop or two of sentiment), in his behaviour, in his language, actually in most things. But, if you do decide to go to see the film, then just wait till you see and hear Willie’s mother.
Billy Bob Thornton is once again Willie Sokes, a criminal type, rather gaunt this time and looking much the worse for wear, with an ability to open safes within three minutes. His mother is having timeout for good behaviour (something which she can charmingly simulate when she wears her Santa outfit) but is a harridan of the worst and loudest kind, having spent most of her time in prison, absolutely despising her son, self-centred, greedy – and anything else you can think of.
Come to think of it a number of the cast also have the opportunity to display some badness, Christina Hendricks is the head of a charitable organisation, attending AA meetings, ready for sex at any time. Tony Cox reappears from the first film, a dwarf actor, frequently the butt of some politically incorrect jokes about height. Even Octavia Spencer has a more lascivious scene than she normally does. However, there is one nice character, Brett Kelly reappearing as The Kid from the first film, now Thurman, a touch of autism, devoted to Willie, seeing good in everyone. He is now 21, follows Willie around, even coming to Chicago to find him when Willie goes to do a job on the safe holding the funds for a charitable organisation for children at Christmas.
Quite a lot of the film is taken up in four lettered repartee (and, often, more than four letters). And, quite a lot is taken up with the bickering, especially between mother and son. Billy Bob Thornton does not communicate a sentimental type on screen and, for the most of the film, it would seem he couldn’t care less – but he does have a soft spot for Thurman, tries to help him, is actually touched by the devotion and, would you believe, his eyes moisten as he listens to Thurman singing Silent Night at the concert.
There is a lot of farce in the robbery and in the getaway and mutual betrayals.
In many senses, going to the film is something of a guilty pleasure – may be more on the guilty than on the pleasure! But, what might keep us watching, even smiling (and even laughing) is the absurdity of it all, but played fairly straight. Unlike a lot of the campus comedies and such films as Bad Neighbours and Dirty Grandpa which invite the audiences in for something of a wallow in the bad and the dirty, Bad Santa is more of a pantomime, not pretending to be realistic at all, but creating exaggerated characters, giving them free reign, jolting us from our expectations of their behaviour.
The film can be described as black comedy – but under the heading of blackbad comedy.
