CREDIT: THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
Bill Murray stars as Vincent, a crotchety old man and neighbour to Oliver, whom he eventually befriends.

At its core, St. Vincent is a story about humanity. The grimy parts that we turn our eyes from in sorrow and helplessness. The ugly parts we grudgingly acknowledge as problems before forgetting, if we allow ourselves to see them at all. The beautiful parts that inspire us to be better, to love more and to see the goodness in others.

This is a movie about life at its best and worst, with all the complexities that comes with.

To understand how insightful St. Vincent is, it’s important to begin with the cultural context.

Set in the United States, the movie manages to examine the failure of the American mental health system, the burden on the families of those in need of care, the lack of assistance for single parents and the complete failure on the part of the American government to take care of its veterans – especially those who fought in Korea and Vietnam.

Despite the complexity of these issues, they are approached as being just the way things are, fixtures of life that are rarely acknowledged even as they destroy lives. This paints the movie in a rather dark light, but sprinkled throughout are moments of hope and beauty that, although brief, show the audience the ray of light we all crave.

The titular Vincent is the culmination of all of these ideas, and Bill Murray brings all of his considerable acting skills to the table, switching from crotchety old man to sweet, concerned caregiver seamlessly. It’s easy to forget that Murray is more than just a comedic actor and seeing him in a serious role is refreshing and engaging.

Melissa McCarthy was rather average by comparison, playing the broken-hearted single mom, but that comparison is far from being fair. Naomi Watts becomes lost in the role of Daka, the pregnant Russian prostitute with a heart of… well, not gold, but something shiny. A personal favourite was the teacher at the Catholic school, Brother Geraghty (played by Chris O’Dowd), who somehow ended up as the comedic relief in a movie full of actors known for their comedy. While child actors can rarely be placed on the same scale as the adults, both Jaeden Lieberher (who played Oliver) and the enterprising bully Dario Barosso (as Ocinski) manage to hold their own.

There are times when one walks into a movie with certain expectations. Looking at the list of actors or the synopsis creates a bias, shaping our mood and our perceptions from the moment we sit down in the theatre or on a couch. St. Vincent, with its list of comedic actors and a synopsis that sounds almost identical to Bad Grandpa, uses this tendency against the audience, creating an emotional whiplash that touches the soul for hours after the credits roll. Mixing the most heart-wrenching scenes of Up and The Notebook, St. Vincent manages to pack an emotional punch only rivalled by The Fault in Our Stars.