Bad Santa 2
Plot
Some years after the events of the first movie, Marcus returns to Willie’s life – having spent 10 years in prison. He wants Willie to help break into a charity safe that will have $2m due to Christmas giving.
Working at the charity, is Sunny, Willie’s neglectful mother he abandoned long ago – who taught him to be the way he is.
The return of Thurman to his life, and meeting the wife of the charity owner, might just ignite a spark in Willie that shows deep down, he is a nice guy.
Cast/Characters
Returning from the first film are Billy Bob Thornton as Willie, Tony Cox as Marcus and Brett Kelly as Thurman.
New cast members are Kathy Bates as Sunny, and Christina Hendricks as Diana Hastings – who co-owns the charity.
Breakdown
Directed by comedy director Mark Waters (known fro Freaky Friday and Mean Girls).
Like the first film, this shows that Willie is a ‘broken soul’. He is capable of doing lots of misdeeds, but at the heart of it, he is still capable of good deeds. Here, it is shown almost from the get go with his unwillingness to rob a charity. That is of course until he discovers the owner, the under developed character of Regent Hastings (played by Ryan Hanson) keeps 98% of donations, and only 2% go to the needy.
This is where we meet his neglected wife Diana. She is essentially the new ‘heart’ and love interest for Willie, replacing Lauren Graham from the first film (although she gets a small mention in the opening narration). Graham did not return to this film due to scheduling conflicts for Gilmour Girls.
There is some ‘almost’ tender moments between Willie and Sunny during the film, as Willie is planning on double crossing her with Marcus. She seems to show some remorse from her past ways, that is until a somewhat surprising third act twist that reveals that she is going to double cross them (right after Marcus triple crossed Willie. The Mexican standoff was fun stuff!
The return of Thurman Merman, by the brilliant Brett Kelly – who is now 21, still the gullible naive kid (who still loves sandwiches) is another part of the heart that Willie has. I loved their not so father son dynamic.
Granny is of course missed, with (the now departed) Cloris Leechman not reprising her role. There is a fun cameo by Octavia Spenser early in the film too. I especially enjoyed the character of Dorfman played by Jeff Skowron. He added that extra level of comedy that just worked so well.
Like the first film, this is very politically incorrect, and if you are offended easily – this is not for you.
Some minor downs was the ‘rushed’ ending that you don’t see happen on screen, but only through the ending narration by Willie (which was used effectively in ‘bookends’) – and only an assumed happy endings seen for Willie/Thurman/Diane.
Overall
On par with #1 in comedy writing and performances.
I would have liked to see a better ending for the Willie/Thurman/Diane characters.
A recommend, but if you’re easily offended, this is not for you.
3/5
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