St. Vincent
2014
***
Director: Theodore Melfi
Cast: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Jaeden Martell, Chris O'Dowd, Terrence Howard, Kimberly Quinn, Lenny Venito, Nate Corddry, Dario Barosso
A grumpy old man named Vincent gets new neighbours, a single mother and her 12-year-old son, Oliver. He ends up babysitting the boy and the two gradually form an unlikely friendship. This is a likeable but extremely formulaic cross-generational drama comedy. Vincent is a heavy-drinking, heavy-gambling, and generally unpleasant human being, but only because he loves his Alzheimer's-suffering wife. Oliver is a wide-eyed youth who can see through the old man's grumpy demeanour. Deep down, the story is quite subversive, but the sentimental ending leaves a bad aftertaste. Bill Murray is typecast in the lead and Melissa McCarthy give her most toned down performance as the boy's mother.
