St Vincent

Bill Murray pulls out all of his tricks but leaves his smarm behind in St Vincent. If he was hoping for recognition from the Academy for the role of his life, this might be it. Murray has a tendency to be smug and trite in a lot of his acting. He has it in his comedy, too. But this time, his quirks are suppressed and tempered by the excellence of his young co-star, a rather serious but game little boy played by Jaeden Lieberher. Some actors should never act with kids, and probably Bill Murray is one of them. But since Murray seems to understand that this is a great child actor and trying to out act the kid would NOT be a good idea, it seems to work.  Of course, you know how it will turn out because it is as formulaic as it can get. After the first 10 minutes, you could write the story- but not the script. The script is funny is just the right places. And it is a tear jerker near the end for all the right reasons. Never mind how this would have played out in real life- you don't go to movies to see real life. (You go to see documentaries and then feel depressed about things that will never affect you).  I highly recommend this movie despite the predictability. You'll get a nice touch of Melissa McCarthy as the sad mom and a very entertaining Naomi Watts as a Russian "lady of the night".   I do think it is worth 3 stars.  And after it, go rent Millions- that's an even better  movie. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/millions/

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