Bill Murray finds virtue in comically sentimental 'St. Vincent'
Bill Murray so far has racked up two movies that could pass as modern biblical parables.
The first, Harold Ramis' "Groundhog Day," ranks as the better one, a sophisticated comedy that illustrates how self-improvement and compassion are the two things that can sustain a soul for eternity.
The second, Ted Melfi's impressive first feature comedy "St. Vincent," may be more obvious and less nuanced, but stays true to its central conviction that tomorrow's saints are here today, disguised among us.
"St. Vincent" adopts the Anne Frank philosophy that people are basically good.
Melfi based his screenplay on a movie-like moment taken from his own life. While attending Catholic school, his adopted daughter received an assignment to nominate potential saints in everyday life. She named her dad.
So, there's no secret about where this story's going. The joy here is in the journey and who we're going with.
That would be two Chicago comedy dynamos: Murray and Plainfield native Melissa McCarthy, who, surprisingly, gets only one funny line in her otherwise straight role.
She plays Maggie, a single mom forced to move into a small house next to Vincent (Murray), a usually inebriated, grizzly old curmudgeon in debt to Terrence Howard's thinly conceived loan shark.
Desperate for cash, Vincent agrees to baby-sit Maggie's 12-year-old son Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) when she's stuck at her hospital job.
Vincent, not being the fatherly type, takes Oliver with him everywhere. To the racetrack. To the bar. But not to the strip club where a pregnant dancer named Daka (hilariously overplayed by Naomi Watts with a Russian accent) works when she's not pleasuring Vincent for cash.
Yet, we soon glimpse goodness under Vincent's alcoholic crust.
He teaches Oliver how to handle bullies. Then, at an assisted living house, he regularly visits a woman named Sandy (Donna Mitchell) whose identity we can easily guess before it's revealed.
Of course, "St. Vincent" thrives or dies on the relationship between Murray and Lieberher. Their amazing chemistry produces sparks between a polite boy and his rude, world-weary baby sitter.
Melfi, a successful commercial director, does a remarkable job of pulling back on the treacly potential of this project by keeping it real and organically funny, something he openly credits Murray for accomplishing.
This sentimental story could have easily taken the express train to Schmaltzville. Murray's comic genius lies in knowing just how much cantankerous spin to put on Vincent to prevent that while preserving the so-called saintly qualities of his title character.
He gets help from Chris O'Dowd's Father Geraghty, Oliver's unflappable teacher who rolls with so many comic punches from his students he could be a gymnast.
"I think I'm Jewish," a shy Oliver confides to Geraghty. O'Dowd doesn't miss a beat.
"Good to know," he replies.
“St. Vincent”
★ ★ ★
Starring: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Jaeden Lieberher, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Chris O'Dowd
Directed by: Ted Melfi
Other: A Weinstein Company release. Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references, tobacco and alcohol use. 103 minutes