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Bad Santa poster

Movies that feel likeBad Santa (2003)

You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.

If you loved Bad Santa, the closest films we have are Chicago (2002), Bottle Rocket (1996) and Adaptation. (2002). All three share Bad Santa's contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Hera Pheri (2000).

πŸ… 78% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Terry Zwigoffcontemplativewittyplayfulgritty
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Paramount Plus Premium Β· Sundance Now

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If Bad Santa hit the spot, these will too

Chicago poster
Chicago
2002 Β· dir. Rob Marshall
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.2comedy Β· crime Β· dramaParamount+

Contemplative and witty in the same breath

Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Bottle Rocket poster
Bottle Rocket
1996 Β· dir. Wes Anderson
πŸ… 86%β˜… 6.9comedy Β· crime Β· drama

Both land play and grit at once

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.

Adaptation. poster
Adaptation.
2002 Β· dir. Spike Jonze
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.6comedy Β· crime Β· drama

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.

Hera Pheri poster
Hera Pheri
2000 Β· dir. Priyadarshan
β˜… 8.2comedy Β· crime

Comedy built on wit, twice over

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Bad Santa

Two tenants and a landlord, in desperate need of money, chance upon a ransom call via a cross connection. They hatch a plan to claim the ransom for themselves.

Naked Gun 33β…“: The Final Insult poster
Naked Gun 33β…“: The Final Insult
1994 Β· dir. Peter Segal
πŸ… 66%β˜… 6.5comedy Β· crimeParamount+

Playful crime, and it commits to that

Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery poster
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7comedy Β· crime

Both lean on grit more than on comedy

As a swinging fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy. But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.

Fun with Dick and Jane poster
Fun with Dick and Jane
2005 Β· dir. Dean Parisot
πŸ… 30%β˜… 6.2comedy Β· crime

Witty crime in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it – but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.

Big Momma's House poster
Big Momma's House
2000 Β· dir. Raja Gosnell
πŸ… 31%β˜… 5.3crime Β· comedyStarz

Both lean on play more than on drama

When a street-smart FBI agent is sent to Georgia to protect a beautiful single mother and her son from an escaped convict, he is forced to impersonate a crass Southern granny known as Big Momma in order to remain incognito.

The Longest Yard poster
The Longest Yard
2005 Β· dir. Peter Segal
πŸ… 31%β˜… 6.4drama Β· comedy Β· crimeParamount+Starz

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the institution's football team of prison guards. Crewe suggests a tune-up game which lands him quarterbacking a crew of inmates in a game against the guards. Aided by incarcerated ex-NFL coach and player Nate Scarborough, Crewe and his team must overcome not only the bloodthirstiness of the opposition, but also the corrupt warden trying to fix the game against them.

A Fish Called Wanda poster
A Fish Called Wanda
1988 Β· dir. Charles Crichton
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· crime

Same instincts, 15 years apart

While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.

White Chicks poster
White Chicks
2004 Β· dir. Keenen Ivory Wayans
πŸ… 15%β˜… 6comedy Β· crimeNetflix

Both know what they want from crime

Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, accidentally foil a drug bust. To avoid being fired they accept a mission escorting a pair of socialites to the Hamptons--but when the girls are disfigured in a car accident, they refuse to go. Left without options, Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from black men into rich white women.

Seven Psychopaths poster
Seven Psychopaths
2012 Β· dir. Martin McDonagh
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· crime

Both are comedy through and through

A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Bad Santa’s defining feeling.