St.
Vincent
Sometimes,
I run out of
adjectives to describe Bill Murray. Beneath the internet memes, the
random and goofy appearances around the world in unlikely places and
blowing away the crowd at every talk show, he’s an amazing
actor who may never get his due because the legend of Bill Murray has
become more about his life than his work. Yet, his work is fantastic,
especially in St. Vincent.
Jaeden Lieberher stars as Oliver – a little kid whose life
has pretty much been upended. His mom, Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), is
divorcing his Dad, they have moved into a new house and the kid has to
start going to a new school. Of course, on moving day, Maggie and the
movers upset her new neighbor, Vincent (Bill Murray) – a
grumpy misanthrope.
Due to her new job, Maggie needs someone to watch Oliver after school,
and Vincent is the only person she can find. Of course, the ornery guy
proves to be a very unorthodox and inappropriate babysitter, but one
who is teaching Oliver some very important lessons about how life
really works. Yes, underneath all of the bluster, the old guy has a
heart of gold, and we are about to find out how big of a heart beats
inside of him.
Don’t call St.
Vincent a dramedy. Ultimately,
it is a comedy with a very dramatic sequence or two, but the comedy
always masks the pain and hurt of life underneath it all, kind of like
humanity. St. Vincent is a story about regular people trying to
survive
the struggles they face, which is why the people in the audience can so
easily connect to the people on screen as the layers are peeled away.
Murray and writer/director Theodore Melfi take what could be a painful
after school special and turn it into a hilarious movie with some
deeply
emotional moments, and those dramatic moments are where Murray shows
his stuff.
Vincent, Oliver, and Maggie become close because all three are lost,
lonely, confused souls who have seen the promises of life become lies
and feel some sort of cosmic betrayal.
However, Murray goes above and beyond the rest to create a prickly
character who is deeply sad and desperate as every facet of his life is
falling apart around him, and wears his anger like a protective
coating. Murray makes Vincent into the kind of repulsive, annoying guy
you don’t want to see on the street, but, in private
situations, reveals his true heart, which makes him honorable and
lovable. It’s the kind of character evolution you
don’t see done with such nuance anymore.
Plus, we get a wonderful performance from McCarthy. Not required to be
clownish and overly silly to make us laugh, McCarthy gets to play a
very straight role as a troubled woman trying to figure out how to do
right by her kid and make ends meet. We see and sense her strain and
frustration until it overflows and leaves no doubt, which is the secret
to why McCarthy is so beloved by fans and will have a great, long
career.
The ending to St. Vincent
does get too cutesy and the movie goes on a bit too long, but you need
to see it to watch Murray at the top of his game.
St.
Vincent is rated PG-13 for mature thematic
material including sexual content, alcohol and tobacco use, and for
language.
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