Movie Review - St. Vincent

St. Vincent *** (out of 5) (PG-13) Bill Murray shines as a curmudgeon with a gooey center in this sentimental comedy that gets surprisingly good mileage from a familiar premise. A single mom (Melissa McCarthy) with an undersized son moves into the house next to Bill’s run-down abode. He seems to hate everyone - himself included - but winds up baby-sitting for the lad while mom works many late nights to support them. Bill boozes excessively, gambles poorly and spends considerable time with a pregnant hooker (delightfully played against type by Naomi Watts). There are also some more admirable aspects of his history and nature lurking beneath the hard shell he’s so masterfully crafted.

The inevitable ups and downs of such set-ups play out as they must, but the cast and some sharp dialog from writer/director Ted Melfi (especially impressive, since this is his feature debut wearing either of those hats) make the heart and humor sides work quite nicely. Even the sillier developments seem tolerable just because the actors do so well individually and collectively. It’s particularly gratifying to see McCarthy in such a relatively low-key role after so many over-the-top gigs in broad comedies like The Heat, Identity Thief and the Hangover series. Her character is arguably the sanest, calmest one in the bunch, giving her fans a fine change of pace. But it’s Murray’s superb mix of sarcasm and softness that holds it all hold together. This may be the natural progression of his persona, from the overgrown man-child of Stripes and two Ghostbusters outings, to his odd competition with a shrewd teenager in Rushmore, to the lost soul of Broken Flowers, to this surly old guy who yells at the neighbors while wishing he knew how to be friends with them. The net result is an audience that will laugh enough along the way before misting up at the end. Game, set and match. (10/17/14)