Last evening I went to see Bill Murray’s new comedy St. Vincent. Everyone loves Bill Murray like a crazy uncle. He’s more than an actor at this point, he’s more like a folk hero with stories about him joining a random kickball game to giving advice to a guy at his bachelor party. It might seem like his job is to show up places and make a person’s day but here he shows us he’s still a comedic genius on film as well. I don’t really need to get into Murray’s extensive filmography. He’s beyond terrific. With the unfortunate passing of Robin Williams it seems like Murray stands alone as an elder statesman of comedic actors, but also one who can transition effortlessly to drama. Murray does that here as an alcoholic deadbeat curmudgeon neighbor to the newly moved in Melissa McCarthy and her young boy played by newcomer Jaeden Lieberher. Circumstances are such that Murray has to babysit the kid and takes him along to bars, the horse racing track and visits his stripper girlfriend. The trailers play up the debauchery and seem rather similar to other films about cranky old coots being forced to take care of a kid and being changed by the experience. And that happens here, but there are lots of other aspects of the film that I won’t spoil that make it unique. The comedy and sentimental bits are handled well by first time director Theodore Melfi. Comedy directors don’t get as much credit, but their task is no less important or difficult as that of a director of serious drama films. Melfi shows promise and I’ll check out whatever he offers up next.
Much of the praise of the film will be heaped upon Murray, and it’s warranted, but the film just won’t work without great secondary characters. The film has quite the emotional punch at the end and it could end up being overly sentimental shlock if not handled carefully. It’s the supporting characters that make the world feel lived in and genuine without being over the top and allow Murray to go full bore into his character. This makes the emotional moments feel earned and not forced. Naomi Watts is pretty damn good as a pregnant prostitute. I don’t recall her ever being in a comedy before which makes her role even better. Her character is the silliest but still resonates. Melissa McCarthy shows that she can still be really funny even when she’s not doing physical comedy. Some of her recent roles have been a bit excessive, so it’s nice to see her dial it down and still be successful. Chris O’Dowd plays a teacher at a Catholic school and his dry Irish humor is on point. He’s one of my favorite comedic actors these days for smaller roles and I hope to see him get larger ones int he future, he could carry a film soon.
There isn’t that much in the way of new wide-release offerings this week so St. Vincent is well worth checking out. Next week with Halloween falling on Friday will be sparse for wide releases hitting new screens but smaller films will look to shine. I hope to be seeing Nightcrawler, Birdman, and Whiplash next weekend. Look for my thoughts on them coming up. But St. Vincent is more than just a filler film between good new releases. It could actually earn Murray a Golden Globe nomination on the comedic actor side and it would be well deserved. I need to see a Murray acceptance speech.
midwestmovieman 