Bad Santa

A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.

AroView: Gleefully soiling St. Nick’s reputation, Billy Bob Thornton dons the red fat-suit as a department store Santa with a penchant for cigarettes, alcohol, profanity, kinky sex and burglary. Helped along by a sinful dwarf in an elf-suit, the pair have eyes on all that retail booty, but their nefarious plans don’t include finding sympathy for a bullied teenager and a local bar maid.

A big “Bah humbug!” from the dir. of CRUMB and GHOST WORLD, this is a perfect anti-Christmas amusement, though it never really gets beyond its broad central joke.