I gave this film an IMDb 6 (the equivalent of ***) for one reason and one reason only: Jon Heder.
Don't get me wrong, I love Billy Bob too, but he's lame in this movie; his character is pathetically written, and he does the best he can with wretched material, but this is NOT Bad Santa. No, this is an inferior retread of a different movie, and it ain't Napoleon Dynamite, which everyone keeps referring to. It ain't that film OR that character, mainly because (1) ND was a far superior movie, and (2) Heder's character in this movie has far more edge (more like the Scorpio he actually is). I think Heder's a genius, really, which of course Billy Bob is too, make no mistake - I did see Sling Blade and the aforementioned Bad Santa - but in this context, it's Heder who comes out ahead because (1) his character was better written, and (2) the camera plain loves this guy; no matter what he's doing he comes off sympathetic and credible. I believe eventually he should play a serial killer and he would prove this beyond all doubt.
Don't get me wrong, I love Billy Bob too, but he's lame in this movie; his character is pathetically written, and he does the best he can with wretched material, but this is NOT Bad Santa. No, this is an inferior retread of a different movie, and it ain't Napoleon Dynamite, which everyone keeps referring to. It ain't that film OR that character, mainly because (1) ND was a far superior movie, and (2) Heder's character in this movie has far more edge (more like the Scorpio he actually is). I think Heder's a genius, really, which of course Billy Bob is too, make no mistake - I did see Sling Blade and the aforementioned Bad Santa - but in this context, it's Heder who comes out ahead because (1) his character was better written, and (2) the camera plain loves this guy; no matter what he's doing he comes off sympathetic and credible. I believe eventually he should play a serial killer and he would prove this beyond all doubt.