Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O’ Dowd, Terrance Howard, Jaeden Lieberher, Kimberly Quinn, Lenny Venito, Nate Corddry, Dario Barosso, Donna Mitchell, Ann Dowd, Scott Adsit, Reg E. Cathey, Deirdre O’Connell.

Vincent is a man whose life seems to be one of which has gone the way of so many in cities and rural areas in America. The dream that once encapsulated that arguably captured all that was good in the land of the free has soured and gone past its sell-by date, all there is to look forward to for many is the daily existence granted by fate in which the daily struggle is just another excuse to be kicked in the face by a country that has forgotten them.

Vincent though it seems is not your everyday piece of pickings for the establishment to rummage their beaks through, he may be down, he may have enough going on to be nearly out but that doesn’t stop him from being a rude, seemingly selfish, a lover of a certain dancer and money obsessed man.

St. Vincent is the latest comedy vehicle for one of America’s all time legends to drive exhaustibly onto the cinematic freeway and grab the attention of audiences both sides of the Atlantic divide. It is a film riddled to the point of collapse with clichés and formulaic devices and yet and because of the pairing of Bill Murray with excellent young newcomer Jaeden Lieberher as the boy who has moved in next door in which makes every cliché a moment in which to treasure.

Nobody knows the full story of anyone’s time on Earth and yet as the film very cleverly shows all the way through, everybody will have a certain opinion based on their perceived prejudices. It is those prejudices that define a person, in other’s eyes and not the whole story. St Vincent, shows with great care that what person sees is not quite what other’s witness or understand to be a character flaw. It may be one of the oldest ideas and plot lines in the history of cinema but it is delivered with freshness and Bill Murray like appeal.

There have been many great actors, some indeed truly legendary, that have graced the screen and the public’s attention in America but none quite like the irascible and wonderfully entertainingly irritable Bill Murray. For a regular cinema attendee it is one of the great ways to spend a couple of hours between films and work out whether or not they can name a film in which Mr. Murray has performed less than irreplaceable. Whether the film was awful or not, Bill Murray has that sheer understanding that a film can be like a band, the group themselves may be on the semi terrible side but as long as the drummer is cool and keep a great rhythm then people will get up and dance to them at a wedding.

The list of great Bill Murray films is endless and it may because he plays the same put upon character throughout, it’s just age or situational circumstances that changes. Whether or not it is the incredible Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, the superb Groundhog Day or the astonishingly touching and arguably career highlight of Lost In Translation, the list is one that keeps giving and now St. Vincent is placed neatly amongst them.

With great performances from Naomi Watts playing against casting type, the marvellous Chris O’ Dowd as Brother Geraghty and the aforementioned Jaeden Lieberher as Oliver, St. Vincent won’t have you believing in a higher power or in that any old film riddled with more clichés than a film about a ship being hit an iceberg, it will have you understanding that to judge someone on a chance meeting or an out of character conversation is the most damning of all responses we can make about each other, unless you have walked in that person’s size nines, then the opinion is moot.

Cliché ridden it may be, but St. Vincent is a God-send of a pre-Christmas film.

Ian D. Hall