St Vincent starring Bill Murray film review in Bristol
Posted on: 2014-12-14
Our rating:
There's absolutely no question that Murray is on top form, delivering a performance that's full of humour, pain, tragedy and pathos, a contradictory mix of loathsome and likeable, capable of total apathy one minute but explosive outbursts the next.
Bill Murray is Vincent, a cantankerous Vietnam war vet who divides his time between boozing, bars, the race track, strip clubs, and seeing his pregnant Russian stripper girlfriend (a brilliant, thick-accented Naomi Watts). When new neighbour and single mum Melissa McCarthy arrives on the scene, Vincent is cajoled into looking after her young son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberhe), who sees the obstinate slob as something of a role model. Cue a series of real life lessons, as Vincent teaches Oliver the ways of the world and first-class tuition in booze, prostitutes, betting on the horses, and how to get swift, violent retribution against a school bully.
Writer/director Theodore Melfi's script was originally written, and rejected, by Jack Nicholson, but Murray brings it his own unmistakably wry, sarcastic, occasionally subversive beats to the role. But in order to get to the final scenes of Vincent's penitence and Dead Poets Society-style spiel, much of the darker, edgier aspects of the character are sidelined for neater, more comfortable character riffs.
So we have Vincent visiting his dying wife in a care home, a few all-too-convenient bonding moments, some slightly clunky, saccharine dialogue, and an upbeat indie score occasionally intrudes to dictate our emotions. In fact, you can't help but feel that, if some of the lighter comedy drama had made way for an exploration into the more fractured, broken facets of Vincent's past, we'd have a deeper, darker, more interesting movie. What is interesting, however, is Oliver's rummaging into Vincent's past to find out who the man really is and what transformed him into the belligerent boozer in the first place, uncovering clues that add layers and perspective to the old grump's history.
There's absolutely no question that Murray is on top form, delivering a performance that's full of humour, pain, tragedy and pathos, a contradictory mix of loathsome and likeable, capable of total apathy one minute but explosive outbursts the next, and it's perhaps his best, most substantial role since Lost in Translation.
Oliver's school assignment which ultimately heralds Vincent as an everyday saint might be contrived but it's undeniably moving and Murray's gruff anti-hero cuts through the treacly schmaltz. If only director Melfi had plunged more into the life of the pugnacious protagonist and not got quite so wrapped up in cloying sentimentality, it could have been a more challenging, subversive movie.
3/5
Reviewed by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol
Check out the movie trailer (PG) below :
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Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
