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Bill Murray has a few big fans at Dear Cast and Crew. Just last week, we had a 10-review marathon series dedicated to Ghostbusters. But today, you guys and the City of Toronto one-upped us by declaring it Bill Murray Day, screening some of his classic films and culminating in the premiere of St. Vincent. All this saintly canonizing was all just a warm-up, it seems, to preparing us for the film itself.
St. Vincent follows a familiar story between a doe-eyed boy and curmudgeon old man (like Bad Santa, Bad Grandpa, Denis the Menace, etc). But it’s hard to fault a film that had me laughing multiple times before the opening credits were done. It was smart for the festival to capitalize on this assured debut by writer/director Theordore Melfi, who leverages Murray’s natural appeal without letting him rest on the usual charms—and it just might earn the comedy legend some Oscar love. The film itself doesn’t elevate much past the feel-good material, but remains enjoyable throughout due to a strong supporting cast in Naomi Watts, Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd (not to mention delightful newcomer Jaeden Lieberher).
But of course, it’s really all about Murray. As it should be.
Sincerely,
Christopher
