Review of St. Vincent (2014) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

This is a comedy drama film featuring themes including friendship, school bullying and apologies. The plot reminded me a bit of Drillbit Taylor, featuring layabout Owen Wilson as Drillbit, who gets persuaded to protect a bunch of young kids from bullies in school. Oliver is someone I found it easy to feel sorry for. Ok so the main plot is far from original but I enjoyed it, as I liked the characters and the cast. There is definitely an element of predictability but I think its the sort of story that a lot of people can relate to and can enjoy the film because of that. The fact that both Vincent and Oliver are somewhat overlooked, outsider type people (having said that, its perhaps easier to feel sorry for Oliver than Vincent) - you could call them underdogs. The one main term to come to mind when describing this film, or Vincent himself, is begrudging, or begrudgingly.

Cast wise, Bill Murray plays Vincent, a real wiseguy type but someone who has a wicked (if dark) sense of humour, unsurprisingly. Murray is one of my favourite actors and I enjoyed his role in this film - he plays his part well, seeming both quite begrudging and also secretly enjoying teaching Oliver things in the way of life, self defence etc. Oliver is played by Jaeden Lieberher - I was impressed with his performance, especially given his young age. Oliver's mother, Maggie, is played by Melissa McCarthy and Vincents other half is Daka, played by Naomi Watts, who seems to be of Russian descent. Also, Chris O'Dowd, of 'The IT Crowd' and 'The Boat That Rocked' fame, plays Brother Geraghty, who is a teacher at Oliver's school.

The music played is a little sickly sweet yet fairly quiet, light pieces although that didn't bother me much due to how quiet some of it is. There is, however, a melancholic element to it and I didn't feel that it sat well with the film, as it isn't purely a sentimental film - it felt like they tried to shoehorn a soppy sweet side to it which I didn't feel entirely worked. I kept watching as I liked how Oliver interacted with Vincent, the way they bounced off each other in a manner of speaking. Suffice to say, there is a moral aspect to the film, although its not exactly suitable for all of the family. Content wise, there are numerous sex related scenes, sex references and scenes featuring pole dancers and the like in a club setting, plus obviously partial nudity. There is little in the way of violence but there are a few scenes which include bloody injuries, although these are only briefly shown. There are some instances of strong language but no particularly frightening scenes as such. The film has been given a 12 certificate due to this.

I thought this was a relatively decent film, although by no means perfect. There are some relatively amusing moments and the characters are well portrayed. The script could have done with some beefing up perhaps but if you can stand the sentimentality aspect somewhat shoehorned in to it, then you may well enjoy this and find it relatively entertaining. Oh and one final thing - keep watching when the credits first roll if you'd like to see Vincent singing along to a Bob Dylan track he listens to on his walkman type device while having a cigarette in his back garden.

Yes I would recommend this film overall. It has its flaws and some will undoubtedly be put off by the sentimentality but there are some quite funny moments, there's a decent cast and good characterisation so its still an entertaining, enjoyable watch overall. The plot is far from original but I still enjoyed it and so, on that basis, I'd recommend it to others, as long as you know.