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Oct 09, 2014 By Shawn Hazelett Web Exclusive

The past decade-plus has not been kind to Bill Murray characters. They have been slovenly (Osmosis Jones), deeply unfulfilled (Lost in Translation), and alone (Broken Flowers), and each generally represent something ugly about going over the hill. With Vincent, we are given an aggregate of each of Murray’s prior deadbeat characters.

He lives a Brooklyn existence that could be described as blue collar except he has no discernable income. This doesn’t stop him from following a day-to-day of having sex with pregnant hookers, losing at Belmont, and getting black out drunk. His routine is interrupted when a single mother Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) moves in next door with her son Oliver, a skinny Jewish kid who is incessantly bullied at his Catholic school. Maggie works long hours and, knowing no one else in the neighborhood, turns to Vincent to babysit. With long standing debts and nothing better to do, Vincent agrees, charging twelve dollars an hour so a kid can sit on his couch for a few hours after school. Meanwhile, Oliver gets in Vincent a role model no kid should ever have.

St. Vincent is the newest entry in a subgenre of fatherless boys who fall under the mentorship of men completely ill equipped for the task. The tropes are correctly identified—Vincent will help Oliver with his bully problem, the two will bond while doing something no kid should ever do, and each will feel Maggie’s wrath—but the screenplay is incredibly imprecise and rushed, resolving conflicts as quickly as they are introduced. This is Ted Melfi’s first film as writer/director, which perhaps explains why the film is hesitant to acknowledge that it does indeed follow precedence. He’s been given a dream pairing with McCarthy and Murray, but they feel oddly stilted, their performances restricted by material that can’t decide whether or not it’s a comedy. The result is Bad Santa at half speed. About a Boy minus the wit and charm. Its warm, touching conclusion only makes you wonder what might have been.

www.stvincentfilm.com

Author rating: 4.5/10