Director: Theodore Melfi
Writer: Theodore Melfi (Screenplay)
Starring: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O’Dowd, Terrence Howard, Jaeden Lieberher
Plot: A young boy whose parents have just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic war veteran who lives next door.
Tagline – With neighbours like these, who needs family?
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Charming Comedy
Story: St. Vincent starts as we meet Vincent (Murray) a selfish man living in New York city, he has a hooker on call in Daka (Watts), he owes people money, drinks and gamblers. He gets a new neighbor in Maggie (McCarthy) and her young son Oliver (Lieberher) who are going to change his way of life.
With Maggie working to keep Oliver in school and away from her husband, which keeps her working late, giving her needing to turn Vincent to babysit after school, leaving Vincent to teach life lesson, while dealing with his own problems.
Thoughts on St. Vincent
Characters – Vincent is a lonely figure that drinks, gamblers and spends time with a hooker. He struggles for money and when he meets his new neighbor he ends up with a babysitting job, where he gets to teach life lessons which opens the doors to his own problems in life. Maggie is the single mother trying to keep her son with her as we as working a fulltime job, meaning she must turn to Vincent. Daka is a stripper and hooker that spends time with Vincent, she is also pregnant which has seen her job disappear, but her loyalty to Vincent comes through. Oliver is the young boy that gets taken in by Vincent to help cover for her mother’s work. He is the new kid at his school which he learns from Vincent how to fit in here.
Performances – Bill Murray is wonderful in this role, he must handle a mix of situations which only helps with the carefree style Murray delivers. Melissa McCarthy is always an actress I never have time for, but this is my favorite performance of her career. Naomi Watts never looks out of place in this role with her accent not missing once through the film. Jaeden Leiberher is an actor that has gone onto bigger things, this showed his potential.
Story – The story shows us that you can meet people in life that are not what the cover seems, it has the idea of one man being down on life, but he has a story that he has never been seen by the people closest to him. A young boy is the person that learns the most as he must learn to grow up quicker than he should. This is a coming of age type of movie for Oliver which is important for him too.
Comedy – This movie does have good comedy coming from each moment that will make you laugh, it also has moments which you need feel.
Settings – The setting works because it shows us how people in and around New York can live different lives.
Scene of the Movie – The project.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The debt collector character seems to fade away.
Final Thoughts – This is a good and enjoyable comedy that shows the important side of life from the people you don’t think will be as big as people believe.
Overall: Comedy fans enjoy.
Rating
