Review: St. Vincent
A misanthropic malcontent with a penchant for the booze and racist insults, Vincent may not be a person you'd wish to tolerate in real life. As he's played by Bill Murray, Vincent becomes the most lovable of grouches in writer-director Theodore Melfi's debut St. Vincent.
Vincent spends his time in his decidedly uncared for home, dining on sardines so his grumpy-faced cat Felix can feast on gourmet food, and having occasional bouts of sex with the pregnant Russian stripper Daka (Naomi Watts). For a little variety, he loses what little money he has betting on horses and harangues his fellow barflies at his local bar.
Vincent finds himself an inadvertent babysitter to Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher), who has just moved in next door with his overwhelmed single mother Maggie (Melissa McCarthy). Pulling in long shifts at the hospital, Maggie reluctantly agrees to Vincent's offer to pay him $12 an hour to look after the shy, sensible and smart Oliver. How is Maggie to know that means Oliver will be taken to the horse races and bars, that Vincent will encourage the kid to defend himself against the school bully, and that Oliver will encounter Daka whom Vincent describes as "a lady of the night"?
If you weren't clued in on Vincent's eventual thawing or reappraisal, then Oliver's school assignment to research and report on a person who possesses the qualities to become a saint should explicitly spell it out for you. Vincent may not appear to be an ideal candidate for sainthood given his irascibility and poor people skils, but Oliver soon comes to learn that this is a man who has surely devoted himself to others.
Though the film builds to the inevitable sentimental climax, Melfi handles the characters and situations so well that the familiar tropes of unlikely friendships and the scrooge with the cuddly center feel fresh and sincere rather than worn and manipulative. Kudos to Melfi for casting Watts and McCarthy relatively against type. Watts doesn't get to display her comic chops too often and she plays the thick-accented, out-for-a-buck, goodhearted Daka to the hilt. Certainly the scene of the obviously pregnant Daka trying to work the pole is one of the film's highlights. McCarthy, toning down her brassy comic inclinations, exudes warmth and worry as the single mother trying to make a better life for herself and her son.
Lieberher fits Oliver to a tee; he and Murray share a genuine chemistry. Murray discovers grace notes in the character, underlining the prickliness with pathos. His scenes with Donna Mitchell as the mysterious woman he visits are webbed with a delicacy of emotion that touches the heart. You may not twig their history when we first see them together, but watch the depth of feeling conveyed in Murray's gaze - that moment alone marks the immensity of Murray's talents.
St. Vincent
Directed by: Theodore Melfi
Written by: Theodore Melfi
Starring: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, Chris O'Dowd, Terrence Howard, Donna Mitchell
