St. Vincent

Vincent is a retired Vietnam veteran in Brooklyn whose life consists of gambling, drinking and debt. He starts picking the new neighbours' kid up from school, for money. The boy's school assignment, meanwhile, is to write about a saint from ordinary life. Bill Murray leads and the film's entire economy rests on him. Naomi Watts plays a pregnant Russian sex worker, with Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd in support. It is Jaeden Martell's first film. Theodore Melfi's debut feature. The script was originally called St. Vincent de Van Nuys and made the 2011 Hollywood Black List. It premiered at Toronto in 2014 and finished runner-up for the People's Choice Award. Made for 13 million dollars, it grossed 54.8 million worldwide, and Murray was nominated for a Golden Globe. The 77 percent Rotten Tomatoes consensus is even-handed: real pleasure in seeing Murray funny again, while the film drifts into sentimentality. Who it is for: viewers who like the grouch and child formula, and who like Murray. Who it is not for: anyone who will resent being manipulated. The last stretch leans hard on the emotional button.