Christmas Movie Advent Calendar Day 11: Bad Santa

Now, if you haven’t see the No. 15 in the Disc Dish top 25 Christmas movie countdown, you might be wondering how it made it in when we give extra points to Christmas spirit, but Bad Santa has more heart than you might think.

The 2003 movie stars Billy Bob Thornton (Armageddon) as the titular Bad Santa, a drunk con man who, with his little elf helper (Tony Cox, Disaster Movie), uses his job as a mall Santa to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. When the security boss (the late Bernie Mac, Old Dogs) finds out, he wants in on the action. But — and here’s where the Christmas spirit comes in — after trying to con a boy (Brett Kelly, Unaccompanied Minors) and his grandmother (Cloris Leachman, TV’s Raising Hope), Thornton takes a liking to the odd couple. Add to that a girlfriend (Lauren Graham of TV’s Parenthood), and Thornton’s Bad Santa is dangerously close to turning good.

The film also stars the late John Ritter (Sling Blade, TV’s Threes Company), who’s always a pleasure on screen.

Rated R, the movie grossed $60 million when it ran in theaters in the 2003 holiday season.

Bad Santa is on DVD, plus director’s cut and Badder Santa unrated editions, and Blu-ray, including both the director’s cut and unrated version, from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

Check out the rest of the Disc Dish Christmas Movie Advent Calendar.