Around Christmas time, the standard type of film to watch is a heartwarming drama or a lighthearted comedy that can be considered appropriate for every member of the family. Naturally, many options exist for those looking to indulge in that kind of good-natured cinematic holiday cheer. However, not everyone’s idea of a merry Christmas involves laughs, hugs, and tenderness. Sometimes the spirit of the season begs to celebrated in a different way: with a hard drinking thief in a Santa suit and his penchant for saying things that would make even the most risque comedian blush.
That’s exactly what the world got with 2003’s Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton as a perpetually inebriated criminal who – along with his elf-sized partner Marcus (Tony Cox) – uses a seasonal job as a mall Santa to knock over for his employers for some ill-gotten financial gains. An almost unfathomably deplorable human being, Thornton’s Willie Stokes nevertheless found himself engaging in a sexual affair with a woman obsessed with Santa (Lauren Graham), and very reluctantly playing a sort of unfit surrogate father to abandoned child Thurman (Brett Kelly). Only through these relationships were viewers given any type of glimpse at Willie’s inner humanity.
Despite – or perhaps because of – its crazy premise, mostly vile lead character, and incredibly raunchy sense of humor, Bad Santa proved a hit with both critics and audiences. A sequel seemed like a good bet at the time, but oddly enough, it never came, and Willie’s tale seemed to be one and done. That is until last year’s announcement that Thornton, Cox, and Kelly would all return for Bad Santa 2, to the delight of fans everywhere. With BS2’s release drawing ever closer, distributor Broad Green Pictures has seen fit to unveil a brand new trailer for the sequel (see above), and to call its content NSFW would be a vast understatement.
Now that everyone has had time to stop laughing at some of the jokes in Bad Santa 2’s trailer, here’s some more background info. Sadly, Graham will not be returning as Willie’s lust interest Sue, and memorable Bad Santa supporting cast members John Ritter and Bernie Mac are no longer around to once again lend the sequel their impeccable comic timing. All is not lost though, as Graham’s exit has made way for a new object of desire for Willie in the form of Diane (Christina Hendricks), who Willie and Marcus work for as part of their scheme to rob a charity. Yes indeed, Willie is still an awful person.
Elsewhere on the supporting front is the what looks to be terrific addition of Kathy Bates as Willie’s equally foul-mouthed mom Sunny. Based on her behavior in the trailer, Sunny is clearly where Willie gets his despicable lack of ethics and disgust for public decorum from. Sunny is also part of Willie and Marcus’ robbery plans, but they seem just as likely to kill each other as pull off the heist. Then again, who hasn’t wanted to get in an old-fashioned fist fight with a family member on Christmas? ‘Tis the season after all.
Bad Santa 2 stumbles drunkenly into theaters on November 23, 2016.
