Thanks Be To Bill Murray

"St. Vincent" is a very pleasant film starring Bill Murray as Vincent, a man of whom we learn a bit about during the course of the film, who is "befriended" by the boy who lives next door. Said boy, Oliver, played very well by Jaeden Lieberher, is a likeable character, not precociously delightful or mischievous, but more adult-like in his actions, which I appreciated. Oliver's mother, Maggie, played well by Melissa McCarthy, who it is nice to see not playing "the funny fat one," works hard at a hospital and needs somewhere for Oliver to stay after school. Vincent reluctantly agrees to babysit Oliver (for a fee) while Maggie is at work. Along the way, Vincent takes Oliver on trips to a racetrack, intervenes in a fight Oliver finds himself him with some school bullies, and introduces Oliver to his stripper girlfriend. After reading such a description, I normally would have found myself overwhelmingly not interested in seeing this film, however, the events in the film are presented in an intelligent way, so as not to distract from the sweetness at the core of the script. There are no gross jokes, no gross situations involving poop, semen, pee, or any other bodily fluids. Vincent is an angry, vulgar man, but he is likable, especially as we get to know more about him. By no means is Vincent perfect, but as portrayed by Murray, he is someone you will probably enjoy watching. Chris O'Dowd, who you may recognize from the British tv series, "The IT Crowd," has a wonderful supporting role as one of Oliver's teachers, Brother Geraghty. O'Dowd brings authority and humor to what easily could have been a throwaway role. It was nice to see the extent of the importance of his character to the film. In his first feature film, director Theodore Melfi, shows that he is capable of handling this task with ease and does not give in to the temptation of taking this material and story and turning it into a series of cheap jokes and incidents involving toilets. Instead, his film is engaging and smart. Not that toilet humor can't be funny if done intelligently (it can be done), but the course that "St. Vincent" could have taken could have been quite annoying and ridiculous. "St. Vincent" reminded me of films like "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Way, Way Back," so if you enjoyed these films, I suspect that you will enjoy Bill Murray's latest film also.