St. Vincent (2014)
Directed by Theodore Melfi
A young boy whose parents just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic, war veteran who lives next door.
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This is, after all, a film whose themes stretch back as far as Wallace Beery and “The Champ,” up through “Bad News Bears,” “Bad Santa,” “Bad Words” and beyond.
One needs only to reference 2008’s Gran Torino, and hone in on Clint Eastwood’s central character, Walt Kowalski.
The film’s story comes right off the retread shelf, echoing Bad Santa and Gran Torino in its depiction of a neighborhood grouch who, if you haven’t guessed, turns out to have a heart of gold.
Think Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino if he was meaner, drunker, and generally more "hey you kids get offa my lawn"!
Murray stars as Vincent, a misanthropic curmudgeon whose current lot in life can be summed up by that Clint Eastwood chestnut from Gran Torino, "Get off my lawn!" Vincent has little use for other people, with his only frequent visitor being Daka (Naomi Watts), a pregnant Russian stripper he employs as a "woman of the night."
Yet unlike other tales of aging curmudgeons redeemed, from “As Good as it Gets” to “Gran Torino” to “Get Low,” writer–director Theodore Melfi’s debut film doesn’t ask its protagonist to confront his demons.
Sure, it reminds you of As Good As It Gets with its cantankerous, antisocial lead, unlikely friendships and soft male presence bringing up the rear (Chris O’ Dowd filling the Greg Kinnear shaped hole in the narrative), but you’re soon invested in the male bonding between Murray and Jaeden Lieberher, and the slow reveal of titular character’s backstory.
At one time Jack Nicholson was attached (if you’re thinking As Good As It Gets you’re on target).
Yet unlike other tales of aging curmudgeons redeemed, from “As Good as it Gets” to “Gran Torino” to “Get Low,” writer–director Theodore Melfi’s debut film doesn’t ask its protagonist to confront his demons.
Vincent does fit the Nicholson template — a crab apple that ultimately turns Delicious — in The Bucket List , As Good as It Gets and, provisionally, About Schmidt .