(rated R) Billy Bob Thornton is a miserable S.O.B. who thought his life was really bad until he had screaming, demanding kids on his lap at the mall. Once a year, Santa “Willie” and his sidekick dwarf (Tony Cox) rob the very department stores that employ them. There is nothing family or gingerbread coated about this movie. Instead, if you’re a hum-bugger-Christmas-despising-Scrooge, you’ll love it – the plot hitting on every commercial annoying moment of the season. While it’s hard to care about a hero who doesn’t care about himself, Thornton manages to spread some audience cheer with his deadpan, dark, cynical, nasty not nice, humor. His one liners bouncing off Cox are a hoot. John Ritter does nicely in his last role as a love-my-(Macy’s-knock off) store manager. Bernie Mac as the store security guard (sort of). Brett Kelly plays “The Kid” who manages to slightly soften Thornton’s Santa because of his genuine childhood innocence and stupidity. As for parents, you better watch out. You WILL BE pouting if kids get near this one that almost scored a NC-17 rating.
