Athlone Film Club is getting into the festive spirit with its next showing; well, kind of !
The dark but hilariously funny Bad Santa starring Billy Bob Thornton shows at The Dean Crowe on Tuesday, December 12.
Funny, sweary and exceptionally acted by Thornton, Bad Santa is the rudest Christmas movie you will ever see. It is a one-joke flick, really, but a rib-cracking one at that.
Criminal cad Willie Soke (Thornton ) hires himself out as Santa in order to crack shopping centre safes. He undertakes this annual exercise with Marcus (Tony Cox ), an angry dwarf dressed as an Elf. But this year it is complicated, as a chubby child (Brett Kelly ) wants to be his friend. Will Willie discover a Christmas spirit other than vodka?
There is little, if anything, endearing about Soke. He wets himself and swears at children. Marcus is not any better: a bitter thug whose insults are colourful, inventive and utterly unprintable here. Bad Santa is not for the easily offended.
The film resists soppiness, while the underplayed theme of redemption and Thorton's priceless presence make it an amusing antitode to seasonal sentiment. - Nev Pierce, BBC Film
Bad Santa will be screened at the Dean Crowe on Tuesday, December 12 from 8pm.
Athlone Film Club’s app is available for download on Android and information can also be found at www.athlonefilmclub.com
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