The press usually describe Thorton as a "tattooed, hirsute man's man". He had many large movie roles after "Sling Blade" 's success. These include 1998's "Armageddon" with Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis, "A Simple Plan", "Monster's Ball", "Bandits" and "The Man Who Wasn't There". He played a mall Santa Claus in 2003's "Bad Santa". It was a black comedy that did very good at the box office. The movie made Thornton notable as a leading comic actor. Thornton has said that, after "Bad Santa"'s success, audiences "like to watch [him] play that kind of guy," and "they [casting directors] call [him] up when they need an asshole. It's kinda that simple... you know how narrow the imagination in this business can be." In 2004 he played Davy Crockett in "The Alamo".