Bad Santa turns the usually sentimental genre of the Christmas film on its head, delivering an acerbic, dark comedy which never panders to the audience's sympathies. This season, it's quite simply, a miracle.

Billy Bob Thornton is Willie, a department store Santa who runs a scam with his sidekick Marcus. Together they rob the different store they work at every year and survive on the takings all year round. But this year, Willie encounters an odd 8-year-old who becomes gradually fixated on 'Santa' and develops a strange friendship.

Now, Bad Santa is certainly not for everyone. Its already stirred up much controversy in its release in the States, but for those who don't hold Santa Claus in a God-like status, this black comedy is a real treat. Billy Bob Thornton is excellent as the miserable, cynical and drunk Santa who is horrible to the kids who sit on his knee. He delivers many great one-liners and is so completely unlikeable that centring a film around him is a very brave move.

His growing friendship with a kid is surprisingly unsentimental in the outset. He is still horrible to him like all other the children, yet in a non-cheesy manner he slowly feels guilty. The gradual semi-redemption is made much more moving than most similar films due to its subtlety. The scenes with the advent calendar and the present made for 'Santa' are actually quite sweet.

But don't get me wrong - Bad Santa is still a weird film. 'Santa' finds a girlfriend who makes him leave his hat on during sex as she has a "Santa fetish". The kid is not particularly funny, at least not in a traditional way. He resembles more of a stalker. And there's no grand "Now I see the true meaning of Christmas" speech in the violent finale.

The film doesn't match any possible expectations on what we usually expect for a Christmas film. There is a lot of strong language, sex and sometimes violence. Yet by the end it still reaches a weirdly positive note, and as the sugar hasn't been piled on all the way through it works ten times more. The film is frequently laugh out loud funny and for fans of dark humour this is destined to become quite a cult classic.

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