Leigh Ann Rassler
[box type=”shadow” align=”” class=”” width=”420px”]Release Date: November 23, 2016
Running Time: 1 hour and 32 minutes
Rated R for nudity, crude language, & sexual content
Grade: C[/box]
I traveled all the way across the country to rob a charity?
After their 2003 seasonal hijinks lands Marcus in jail, he is released due to over-crowding and makes Willie a proposition that he can’t refuse. Willie, who we know needs a reason to live, has just tried to off himself again when Thurman comes back into his life. After an attempt to hire Opal to make Thurman a man, he joins Marcus on a cross country mission to steal 2 million dollars. Much to Willie’s surprise, the target is a charity that helps children called The Giving City. Undaunted by the nature of the target, Willie is forced to don the Santa suit once more, but is even more disgruntled when he learns that Marcus’s associate is his own degenerate mother.
Having not an ounce of trust for either of his partners, Willie forges on with the plan and ends up having a relationship (sort of) with Diane who is the owner of the charity. When Marcus inadvertently tips off Diane’s husband during a stakeout, the race begins to see if the trio can pull off the heist before being discovered. It’s starting to feel like Christmas, but this time it’s not how much you give, but how much they take.
When you dont have real family, you have to make a new one.
They’re back in the saddle again! Thirteen years after Billy Bob Thornton’s alcoholic sex-addicted Bad Santa took theaters by storm, the sequel is finally here. After several screenplay writer changes, Miramax and Broad Green Pictures deliver the sequel with Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, and Brett Kelly reprising their roles. There’s just something about Billy Bob Thornton that I can’t quite put my finger on, but he sure can play a cynical deplorable character to the tee.
The screenplay writer, Shauna Cross, only had one person in mind to play Willie’s mother so luckily they were able to sign on Kathy Bates on as the parent whom which the apple did not fall far from the tree. The story is almost as tightly woven as in Bad Santa, but retains all of the raunchiness which a few more brief moments of sentiment revolving around Brett Kelly’s character. Due to the Gilmore Girls revival, Lauren Graham was written out, but Christina Hendricks steps in nicely to become the main object of Willie’s affections. As with the first edition, the soundtrack is amazing and includes beloved tunes by Elvis Presley, Ray Conniff, Bob Dylan and many more. If you are in the mood for a different kind of Ho Ho Ho humor this holiday, then Bad Santa 2 if the film for you! ~Movie Buffette
Bad Santa 2 will make you laugh. There is no doubt about it. Even though I had not watched the first film, I had no trouble following along and figuring out the backstory and characters. It opens with Willie down and out and not able to hold a job. He is trying to commit suicide in his kitchenette hotel room when a kid from his past (Thurman portrayed by Brett Kelly) shows up and ruins his plans. Thurman is delivering a package filled with $2,000 and a cell phone. Willie goes to meet the mysterious person and it turns out it to be an old buddy in crime named Marcus who has just gotten out of prison after serving 10 years.
Marcus offers Willie a job. He needs him to crack a safe in Chicago that contains millions. Willie finally agrees and follows Marcus on a train from Phoenix to Chicago the week before Christmas. They arrive on the steps of a children’s charity and apply for jobs as a Santa. Turns out one of the volunteers is Willy’s long-lost mother, Sunny. I did not think anyone could be as rude as Willie, but she is and it is then that you see Willie’s heart began to soften just a wee bit.
Bad Santa 2 is filled with raunchy humor, foul language and sex. It is a comedy for adults, not children or teenagers. If you are looking for a good laugh this holiday weekend, then Bad Santa 2 will certainly do that. So grab and friend and get in the holiday spirit. ~A.S. MacLeod
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