ST VINCENT - 2014

More often than not when a film is released be it a film festival or general release if a film usually gets a high response or an a ward you can take a chance on believing that it will indeed be worthwhile investing some time in. In the case of St Vincent I recall its acclaim when it was shown at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival where it won 2nd runner up as “People’s Choice Award” for Best Film. So right there knowing that it was chosen by the people and not by the media heavyweights made it a worthwhile film to see. When a film is made with heart and emotion the people tend to respond quite positively, when characters are developed so well that you can shed a simple tear when they suffer heart ache you know the director and his team have done their job and when you can leave a film and still have it play on your mind days or weeks later you know you have witnessed something fantastic and life altering.

Vincent MacKenna is a Vietnam War Veteran living in Brooklyn, like a bear with a sore head he is a bad tempered older gent who mostly keeps to himself, drinks often, gambles more and his one true friend is a pregnant Russian prostitute named Daka. One night after arriving home drunk Vincent all but totally destroys his car trying to get home in an inebriated state. The next morning new neighbours move in and along the way destroy his fence and a large tree branch which comes crashing down on top of his car. Vincent blames the new neighbours a single mother named Maggie and her twelve year old son Oliver and demands she pay for all damages caused by the moving men including the damage he caused himself. This pretty much shows exactly the kind of person Maggie and her son need to put up with in their new home. When Maggie is told she needs to stay back at her workplace one evening she having no other option than to lose her job she begrudgingly employees Vincent as a baby sitter. Vincent not known for being the friendliest of people agrees to certain terms and takes on the job as after school carer for Maggie’s young boy. After a non-eventful first sitting Maggie takes on Vincent as full time baby sitter taking the boy along on his daily activities no matter how inappropriate they may be. Vincent is pretty much the colloquial onion and as the film progresses slowly the layers get peeled back as his true self come to light.

I have always loved the zany that Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Ghostbusters) puts into all of his characters, Vincent MacKenna is no different, and I actually found myself wondering how far from his true self the character he was portraying to be really was. Once again though Bill Murray was amazing in the lead role, he has such a charm that he puts into every role he plays, even though his character is an old cantankerous self-indulging slob you can’t help but fall in love with who he is and you very quickly learn to admire his quirkiness. Starring alongside Melissa McCarthy (The Heat, Mike and Molly) as Maggie, Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd, Bridesmaids) as Brother Geraghty, Naomi Watts (Birdman, The Ring) and Jaeden Lieberher as Oliver. I think the cast was great, Naomi Watts was so convincing as Daka I loved her and her bad accent. Also Jaeden was very good in his role too being very new to the industry I think he may be a big name in years to come especially with his sweet innocence. Theodore Melfi wrote and directed St Vincent and surprisingly its his first feature film, the guy has a lot of talent, he really knows how to carry a story I guess without trying to take anything away from him, having such seasonal actors to work with has only helped his credit rating raise through the roof. I’m really looking forward to his future films. One thing I am glad of though is originally Vincent was to be played by Jack Nicholson, sure I think he would have done a fantastic job but I feel it would have been exactly like many characters Jack has portrayed before, I’m not sure why Jack didn’t get the role but I’m sort of glad he didn’t.

St Vincent is an amazing ride, slow in a few places but at its heart keeps you entertained from beginning to end. It’s a film with a lot of heart and a lot of laughs along the way, with some great performances. It’s a film that will have you question your own life I’m sure and those within.

St Vincent – 4 out of 5 BanShee Screams

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