Willie T. Stokes ((Billy Bob Thornton) is seriously on the skids. He may dress up like Santa Claus, but his nose ain't red 'cause he's cold; he's a pretty nasty alcoholic when we first meet him, and it's all downhill from there. His disgruntled elf-of-color, Marcus (Tony Cox) is the brains of their operation, a scam that involves getting hired at the local mall as Santa and his elf, having their picture taken with hundreds of little kids day after day and, at the end of it all, making off with the contents of the mall's safe and whatever haberdasheries strike Marcus' wife's fancy. When they hit Phoenix, however, things change for the foul-mouthed, bad-tempered Santa when a weird kid (Brett Kelly) saves him from an attempted assault by a gay rapist (Ajay Naidu, aka, the Hindustani guy from Office Space). Santa takes the boy home and, once there, robs his sole caretaker, his senile grandmother (Cloris Leachman). The kid's dad, it seems, has gone on an "extended vacation," and the poor boy hasn't gotten any presents for two years. As if that wasn't enough, the kid's no Tiny Tim--he's overweight, not very bright and gets picked on all the time at school. (We don't learn his name until the film's nearly over, but once it's out there, it's pretty clear why the poor boy's persecuted.) Of course, none of this changes Willie's heart, but the big guy in the suit knows a good thing when he sees it. Granny's house is sweet and her liquor cabinet is well stocked, so he moves in and ends up bonding with the kid in spite of himself.
