No one in “St. Vincent” may actually be a saint, but humanity is what allows this movie to shine. “St. Vincent” quickly introduces us to Bill Murray’s (“Ghostbusters,” “Groundhog Day”) character of Vincent (or Vin or Vinnie); he tells a corny joke, berates the bartender, drunkenly dances to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” cavorts with a Russian prostitute named Daka (Naomi Watts) and has a very dangerous experience with the cabinet doors in his kitchen.
This is all before the audience is introduced to the kid from the movie trailer we all know will show up at some point. However, in doing this, director Theodore Melfi makes sure that the audience has a fondness for the broke and kind of slobby Vinnie.
Recent divorcée Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and her son Oliver (Jaeden Liberher) are introduced moments later as the new neighbors.
The next day, after a predictably awful first day at a new school, Oliver ends up spending the afternoon with Vin while locked out of his house. Though why exactly any mother would end up leaving her child with someone she barely knows is never clarified, Vin becomes Oliver’s new babysitter for 12 dollars an hour—11 if Maggie throws in snack money.
Vin and Oliver quickly bond in the way that grouchy old men and precocious kids do in movies, with Vin teaching Oliver how to fight, taking him to Belmont Stakes to teach him how to gamble and to a few other places that kids definitely should not go, like bars.
The plot doesn’t throw many surprises at the audience—though there are a few—nor are there characters that have not been seen before; there’s the stressed-out single mom, the cranky old man, the kid, the Russian prostitute and an Irish priest (Chris O’Dowd), but the actors that make this movie great.
Murray easily steals the show. His irascible old man persona is just charming enough, and, while he might be awful to everyone else, he never goes out of his way to hurt Oliver. Murray’s brand of sarcastic humor is always just enough to keep the audience snickering.
This is Jaeden Liberher’s first feature film, but you would never know it; he and Murray are great in all their scenes together. He doesn’t overact, and instead keeps his acting simple. In fact, the movie works because it doesn’t go too over the top with anything: the comedy, the drama or the schmaltz. McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”), whose comedy can tend to be a bit crazy, is toned down in St. Vincent, as she plays one of her more serious roles. Watts (The “Impossible”) is hilarious as the pregnant Russian prostitute, as is O’Dowd (“Bridesmaids”) in his few moments as Oliver’s teacher.
The plot has its weaker moments, and drags for a bit in the middle, but is strong overall. What really makes the movie good, if not great, is the humanity of all the characters. Everyone is flawed, but they all have good in them— one of the major themes of the movie. The film shows that anyone can do good in someone’s life: you don’t have to be a saint. The film itself is probably directed to a demographic that is not college students, but that doesn’t keep it from being charming, funny and uplifting. So go see it. Maybe don’t pay 10.50, but watch it at some point in your life. And when you do, make sure you sit through the credits.
