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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 99; suggested age 16.
  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    Too naughty for kids; nice for some grown-ups.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 16–18

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Several characters are outright criminals who steal, con people, and even commit murder. The main character's specialty is safecracking. During the Christmas holidays, he poses as Santa Claus in order to rob department stores. He also steals a car, takes money from a residence's safe, and is overall a selfish, mean, reckless individual. However, the movie establishes him as an antihero whose actions are played for laughs. He later experiences an epiphany when he befriends a lonely boy and becomes an unorthodox father figure to him.
  • Violence:

    Violence includes murder, characters being shot, attempted suicide. A man is killed when other characters conspire to murder him and then pin him between two vehicles. Police officers and a store robber engage in a gun battle. His partner, who flees the scene, is shot eight times by police, but survives. A lot of fighting, such as punching, kicking, shoving, and kicking in the groin. A man appears to be attempting suicide in his car in a garage, but he doesn't go through with it.
  • Sex:

    Very explicit sexual situations and references, borderline NC-17. A man and a woman -- both shown clothed from the waist up -- have sex in a car. They later have sex in a hot tub. A man and a woman have what is implied as anal sex in a department store's fitting room; their legs are shown under the door. A man hits on a girl during a pinball game; she is later revealed to be underage.
  • Language:

    Extreme profanity and strong language throughout.
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Characters drink and smoke throughout the movie. The main character is a belligerent alcoholic who regularly drinks to excess.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Bad Santa

Parents need to know that this movie, though it features a Santa Claus character and Christmas theme, is not for kids and may even be too much for some adults. It includes profanity, nonstop drinking and smoking, extremely explicit sexual references and situations, and graphic violence, including a suicide attempt, hitting below the belt, murder, and shooting. Note: This is a review of Badder Santa, an unrated version that was released on DVD and is available through Netflix.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about dark comedies and raunchy humor. Do you think comedies are getting raunchier? What more recent comedies can you compare this to? Would this movie work with a more innocent brand of humor or not? Which movies are funny without the violent and sexual content?

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Minnesota
    I rate this title on for age 13 and give it 5.0

    Bad Santa

    Bad Santa This movie is for the ones who love comedy. A great actor named Billy Bob Thornton plays Bad Santa. Bad Santa is a drinker. He goes out every night to drink and party. The actor Tony Cox plays the little evil elf. This is the elf you do not want to see before Christmas. The movie needed a bad guy, not the really bad one but the dumb one. This kid named Brett Kelly plays the dumbest act in the whole entire human race all over the universe. Playing that part would be unbearable for any other kid. After all, Brett Kelly did it well. In the movie, Bad Santa and the little evil elf go out robbing money from department stores for their yearly profit. Kind of like their main work and goal in life. They get to listen to the children’s Christmas wishes before they get to the main part. Somehow they have no feelings for the little kids. After people left the store, Marcus the mighty little elf gets to the security block panel. Switching off the sensors, Santa waits outside patiently till Marcus lets him in. Once in, Santa heads for the safe. He opens it with a couple of instruments. After a while they split the money and go their own ways till the next Christmas comes. But what they do not know is that the next department robbing store is much tougher. This is one of the best movies, by Terry Zwigoff. There were a couple of problems with the movie and some of it did not make sense at all. A lot of emotions went around on some scenes. This was a major struggle for the director and the filming crew. Billy Bob Thornton had to drink a lot because he had the part where he was always at the bar. The kid wasn’t dumb enough to make it through, but when he got the feel of it, Brett Kelly played the most ridiculous part in the movie which made it very funny. Overall the movie is great but probably not for the children under the age of sixteen. This is one of the best movies ever that had been ever created. Comedy movies are one of the best that would do the trick of cheering you up after an ugly day at work.

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