‘They’re dead. That’s the oldest you can be...’
Like any normal human being in this, the year of our Lord 2022, I love Bill Murray. The American icon has become the whole world’s favourite uncle in recent years and it’s easy to see why. He turns up at random parties. He loves laughing at himself. He’s a wonderful, underrated actor. And yet, his more recent output has kinda left me cold. I never liked Lost in Transmission, and his work with Wes Anderson didn’t do much for me. St. Vincent felt like a chance to redress this great imbalance in the force. And it mostly succeeds…
Vincent (Murray) is a jackass. We meet him so drunk that the bartender refuses to serve him and just like that other great cinematic jackass Uncle Buck, Vincent is no stranger to the racetrack or to women of the night (to use his own parlance). His misanthropic existence is shattered when single mother Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and her son Oliver (Jaeden Martell) move in next door. After initially agreeing to babysit Oliver purely for financial reasons, Vincent eventually begins to question what’s really important in life.
This sounds like a typical grouchy Murray character, but actually, Vincent has a darker soul than many of Murray’s creations. He is genuinely cruel at various points throughout the movie, and Murray does well in these moments even when stepping out of his comfort zone. He shares a wonderful chemistry with his younger co-star, and McCarthy reminds us how great she can be when not playing too over the top. Naomi Watts comes along for the ride sporting a thick eastern European accent and stealing every scene in which she appears, but it is Murray’s understated charms that ensure that St. Vincent must be considered a success.
Theodore Melfi, directing from his own script, imbues the whole thing with a shedload of warmth and poignancy that allows Murray’s stellar performance to shine. I mean honestly, it’s worth the admission fee just to see Bill Murray singing along to Bob Dylan’s ‘Shelter from the Storm’ whilst gardening. Properly Beautiful.