Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Blown out on the trail: Murray rocks as “St. Vincent”

Cinema | November 5th, 2014

Like Herman Blume, the wealthy industrialist in Wes Anderson’s awesome “Rushmore,” Bill Murray’s Vincent MacKenna is a prickly, disillusioned Vietnam veteran with a taste for alcohol and cigarettes. MacKenna is poor and Blume is rich, but both men reassess their lives following unexpected and unorthodox friendships with much younger boys. The formula of the weary old grump and the precocious, inexperienced cadet learning lessons from one another works better in Anderson’s memorable film than it does in “St. Vincent,” but writer-director Theodore Melfi still manages to locate a number of opportunities for beloved headliner Murray to demonstrate why he’s a national treasure.

Murray is every bit as good in his mid-60s as he was decades ago in movies that established his cult bona fides. Before box office monsters like “Ghostbusters,” Murray consistently made lasting impressions as either lead or support in “Meatballs,” “Where the Buffalo Roam,” “Caddyshack,” “Stripes” and “Tootsie.” “St. Vincent” is another golden opportunity to see Murray break out his sly and ornery misanthropy, even though we all know the kindness and humanity are hiding just beneath the surface – and will certainly show up in time for the wet-eyed finale.

Newcomer Jaeden Lieberher plays Oliver, the introspective, considerate son of Melissa McCarthy’s struggling Maggie. They have the good and bad fortune to move in next door to Vincent, who soon becomes Oliver’s paid “babysitter” when Maggie is stuck at work. Vincent treats Oliver to something resembling an education, with trips to the horse track and meals taken at a local watering hole. The situations are all as formulaic as they sound, but Murray makes up for any predictability with his convincing flair for the celebration of vice.

One of the more provocative aspects of “St. Vincent” emerges in the complex relationships Vincent shares with the women in his life. Given the man’s host of socially frowned-upon behaviors, it’s no surprise to discover that Vincent scrapes together enough cash to regularly employ the sexual services of pregnant, gold-hearted stripper Daka (Naomi Watts). But when Melfi reveals that Vincent is also providing for his wife Sandy (Donna Mitchell), whose dementia confines her to a long-term care facility, it is left to the audience to determine the extent to which Vincent’s behavior is conscientious.

Melfi is blessed with a talented ensemble of actors. Somewhat surprisingly, however, several people expected to feature more prominently in the narrative take a back seat to the development of the central pairing of Murray and Lieberher. McCarthy rather convincingly demonstrates the same kind of skill handling serious dramatic material that has served co-star Murray so effectively in his career. Chris O’Dowd, as a wisecracking but warmhearted priest directly descended from Bing Crosby’s Father Chuck O’Malley, does his best to breathe life into his character. Terrence Howard’s role as a loan shark is so small that it is a bit surprising to see the Academy Award nominee in the part. “St. Vincent” is Murray’s party all the way, though, and audiences are staying through the credits just to see Murray’s spirited backyard sing-along to Bob Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm.”  

Recently in:

By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.eduI was pleased to visit with many colleagues and at the Germans from Russia Heritage Society Convention in Mandan in July, and at the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia…

October 4-20, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.Theatre B, 210 10th St. N in MoorheadThis funny, earnest and hopeful play is a breath of fresh air heading into election season. Playwright Heidi Schreck paid for her…

Happy 30th Birthday HPRBy John Strandjas@hpr1.comThirty years ago some gutsy UND student journalists hanging at Whitey’s in East Grand Forks got enough liquid courage to create their own damn newspaper. Then with drinks raised,…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWhere will the homeless go when billionaires go to their bunkers?Icelanders are living almost on top of volcanos but are cooled by ice, snow, and placid attitudes while hiding a keen sense of…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Like any metropolitan area, Fargo-Moorhead has a plethora of radio stations representing a variety of musical genres and other content. And like any other playing field in the world of…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Writer-director Nicole Riegel’s sophomore feature “Dandelion” is now playing in theaters following a world premiere at South by Southwest in March. The movie stars KiKi Layne as the…

By HPR Contributorssubmit@hpr1.com They are the inventive, passionate, adaptable, resourceful, sometimes over-enthusiastic, wack-tacular people who create art in our community, and they’re opening their studio doors to you for…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

By Jim Fugliejimfuglie920@gmail.com“The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.”You might recall that memorable line, uttered by Dick the Butcher, from perhaps the least memorable of Shakespeare’s plays, “Henry…