St. Vincent Review

After all of his party crashing, french fry thievery and Space Jam cameos, it sorta feels weird to see Bill Murray headline a by-the-numbers feature like St. Vincent. It's not that he's bad in it, or that the film is some monstrosity (it's really not), but it's just sorta routine and lacking in the inventive spark that marks the works of filmmakers Murray usually collaborates with like Wes Anderson.

But like I said, the films routine nature is not necessarily a bad thing, it can even become an asset in certain scenes between Murray's titular character and his next door neighbors son, Oliver, played by Jaeden Lieberher. The two are fun to watch, and scenes where they just get into humorous shenanigans are among the movies best moments. It helps that Murray plays elderly and crotchety effectively, while Lieberher retains a constant sense of naivety that bounces off of Murray beautifully.

It's actually when the film tries to drum up the waterworks that things take a tumble. The film pretty much throws a cavalcade of depressing scenarios for Murray to wade through in the last hour or so. They all (sans one that double as the movies final major set-piece, and even that one has its weaknessess) feel kinda forced, especially since one in particular that should have more long term effects on Murray is sort of brushed off in a weird way. Not helping the large amount of lackluster dramatic moments is that one of them comes from a bizarrely underwritten role for Terrance Howard, as some kind of gangster that doesn't fit into this movie in the slightest.

The likes of Naomi Watts and Melissa McCarthy don't exactly get massive roles here, but they actually do well with what they have. McCarthy does an admirable job of conveying everyday tragedy in her role as a mother in the middle of divorce procedures, while Watts gets some of the movies funniest moments as a pregnant stripper that has close connections with Vincent. Even if the film feels overlong, the presence of good performances from these two, as well as Murray and Lieberher, does help keep things not only watchable, but mostly entertaining.

If IMDB is any indication, St. Vincent is the first feature length directorial credit for Theodore Melfi, whose capable here in directing but admittedly not distinctly outstanding. He's also the writer of the movie, and he does do a fine job of getting some memorable lines and staging a cliche, but undeniably moving final scene set at an assembly. You've likely seen this movie and its plot point a million times before, and doubtlessly done better, but it is hard to deny that the movie has some elements of charm to it that make St. Vincent a decent outing for one of Hollywoods more unorthodox stars.