St. Vincent
Director: Theodore Melfi
Actors: Bill Murray
Release Date: Saturday 30th November 2013
Genre(s): Factual
Running time: 102 minutes
Bill Murray has spent the past four or five years working with increasing consistency. Previously the iconic comedy actor would only pop up for quirky, indie flicks (Broken Flowers, Rushmore ) or for a pay cheque that required little in the way of effort (Garfield 1 and 2). But by mid 2015 he'll have featured in over a dozen projects in five years. By no means a bad thing, he may have lost some of his mystery, but St Vincent is his best role in years - even if his character and the film borrow liberally from other work.
Murray is Vincent, a miserable bastard who lives in one of New York's working class burrows. Drinking and gambling too much, he is ostensibly at least, a bit of a degenerate. When a desperate single Mother (McCarthy in drama mode) moves next door with her smart, sensitive pre-teen son, Vincent ends up babysitting the kid for dosh, with an unlikely bond soon emerging between the two.
It's pretty straight forward stuff and in fairness it's not professing to be anything other than a sweet drama with moments of comedy. The hook here for people will inevitably be the cast, with Melissa McCarthy a genuine box office star who can put bums on seats; while Bill Murray still exudes that air of credibility. This has led to plenty of Oscar talk with the inoffensive tone likely to score with Academy voters
It is hard not to shake that air of familiarity at points, particularly an ending that's disconcertingly similar to that of a certain Hugh Grant starrer a few years ago, featuring a adult hanging out with a pre-teen lad. Vincent also has more than an whiff of Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets, but admittedly is a more well rounded character.
We wouldn't be surprised to see Murray nominated for an Oscar for his sterling work here. While it's far from original, there's still enough in St Vincent to warrant a couple of hours of your time.
