MOVIE - Saint Vincent

PG-13(1:43)

Wide release 10/24/2014

Viewed 10/31/14 with Cyra Sadowl at ElCon

RT Critic: 74   Audience:   83

Cag:  4.5 Liked it a lot

Directed by Theodore Melfi

The Weinstein Company

Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts

My comments: This is dubbed a COMEDY, but I think that is entirely wrong.  Even black comedy doesn't do it.  There is absolutely some humor in it, but for the most part it's the story of how people cope with sadness and grief in their lives.All four of the major actors were terrific.  Melissa McCarthy is NOT playing this for laughs, she's a mom with stress and problems and an injured past.  I had gone to this thinking it was a comedy, and as the credits rolled I realized it was so much more than that.  Good movie.

RT Summary:  Maggie (McCarthy), a single mother, moves into a new home in Brooklyn with her 12-year old son, Oliver (Lieberher). Forced to work long hours, she has no choice but to leave Oliver in the care of their new neighbor, Vincent (Murray), a retired curmudgeon with a penchant for alcohol and gambling. An odd friendship soon blossoms between the improbable pair. Together with a pregnant stripper named Daka (Watts), Vincent brings Oliver along on all the stops that make up his daily routine - the race track, a strip club, and the local dive bar. Vincent helps Oliver grow to become a man, while Oliver begins to see in Vincent something that no one else is able to: a misunderstood man with a good heart.