Bad Santa is not for the kiddies

Bad Santa

Director: Terry Zwigoff

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Lauren Graham, Tony Cox, John Ritter, Cloris Leachman

Cert: 15.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas; and stick 'em up!

No sweet-natured fat gentleman in red here - we don't care who you are, get those reindeer off the roof! - but instead a nasty, boozey, skirt-chasing con who poses as Father Christmas, the better to rob shopping malls.

Thornton, as the cringe-making FC, is brilliantly awful as the crook, if a tad foul-mouthed - it's not for the kiddies! He alone gives the film its edge with his cynicism and do-evil attitude.

It's a film for all of you world-weary citizens who dread the approaching Yuletide, the Yo! Ho! Ho! of it's better to give than to receive.

Star Rating: 3/5