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Movie Review

“Bad Santa 2” is OK, until it loses its way

Brett Kelly (left) and Billy Bob Thornton in “Bad Santa 2.”Jan Thijs/Broad Green Pictures/Miramax/Broad Green Pictures / Miramax

Thirteen long years. That’s the wait moviegoers endured for an encore to the feel-good hit of 2003, a cheery study of character foibles and inspirational evolution that the whole family could enjoy.

Oh, hang on — you thought we meant “Finding Nemo”? Nope, “Bad Santa.” (Sorry for the confusion.)

While there might be a crowd out there that has been anticipating “Bad Santa 2” with cult adoration, we are not part of it. Billy Bob Thornton’s original coal-black comedy had an amusing misanthropy about it, sure, but the joke of a boozing, thieving department store Santa was also awfully one-note. If you saw one gag with Thornton’s skuzzy Willie Stokes unconscionably violating the sanctity of his ratty red suit, you pretty much saw them all.

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Even so, Willie is back, along with his partner in crime, irascible little person Marcus (Tony Cox). They haven’t got the entire gang in tow, of course — Bernie Mac is no longer with us, and John Ritter died shortly before the first movie’s release. But Willie’s slow-witted kid tagalong Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly) is around, even if “kid” doesn’t exactly apply anymore. And Kathy Bates gamely joins in for a lead role as Willie’s conniving, prison-tatted mama, Sunny. (Bates has company in the oh-why-not department: Octavia Spencer reprises her cameo as Willie’s prostitute gal pal, never mind the attention — and the Oscar — she grabbed in the interim.)

Journeyman director Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) and a new writing team make a surprisingly witty first impression in succeeding deadpan auteur Terry Zwigoff. A clever fake-out about Willie cleaning up his act — yeah, right — is followed by a hilariously boneheaded suicide try. Then, after Marcus and Sunny lure Willie to Chicago to empty the coffer of a big charity, it’s on to bits like the three of them manning a sidewalk donation kettle, obscenely guilting passersby. It’s material that’s skillfully played, sharply scripted (if not improvised), and disappointingly not sustained.

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This new “Bad Santa” starts losing its way by having Willie lapse into his old one-dimensional bad habits, notably getting down with Christina Hendricks’s kinky philanthropist (a swap-out for Lauren Graham). More glaringly, the filmmakers feel compelled to segue into generic, “legit” action, and some moments of soul-revealing frankness between Willie and his mom. Trying to fit this much borderline earnest emotion between crotch gags? Bad idea.

★ ★
BAD SANTA 2

Directed by Mark Waters. Written by Johnny Rosenthal and Shauna Cross. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Kathy Bates, Christina Hendricks, Brett Kelly. At Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs. 92 minutes. R (crude sexual content and language throughout, some graphic nudity).


Tom Russo can be reached at trusso2222@gmail.com.