Movie Review: St. Vincent

3 stars out of 5

I should’ve waited till Thanksgiving. This is the perfect see-with-the-folks-on-Thanksgiving movie: not good, not bad, but not offensive, and eminently watchable. Maybe I’ll see it again, if it’s still playing.

Bill Murray does something interesting in St. Vincent: He acts. This is not necessarily a good thing: Like George Clooney, Bill Murray is someone we pay to be himself. The irreverent, zest-for-life guy. (Which he seems to do more in real life these days than in movies.) But at this later point in Murray’s career, I give him credit for trying. Hell, he even does a Brooklyn accent.

Melissa McCarthy is in this movie. Ooh, I bet my folks love Melissa McCarthy. I hadn’t seen her in a movie before because she comes across as a little, you know, brash. But she’s good in this. She is not brash. A single mom who is trying so hard goshdarnit.

Then there is a kid. He’s in a new school and he gets bullied. (The script is a little paint-by-the-numbers like that.) There are some kid actors who are really really good and make you think “that is a real kid.” This kid is OK but not one of those really good kids.

Naomi Watts plays a Russian hooker (complete with “moose und squirrel” accent) with a heart of gold.

You know who’s good in this? Chris O’Dowd as a teacher at the Catholic school. He’s good in everything. A friendly, charming guy. More Chris O’Dowd, I say!

Also in this: Ann Dowd. The Leftovers, The Drop, Olive Kitteridge, and now this. Less Ann Dowd, I say!

Terrence Howard is slumming as a bookie who doesn’t want to hurt you but he will if he has to. Always happy to see Lenny Venito, whose hand I once shook. Rob Corddry’s brother Nate shows up. Querns from Oz. Pete Hornberger from 30 Rock.

But you buy a ticket to see Bill Murray, and even though he isn’t his wisecracking self, or the subdued version we’ve seen in recent years, he’s having fun and putting on a show for us. He’s Archie Bunker. He’s grumpy. He forms an unlikely friendship with the kid. (I know, you’re shocked.) There is nothing too original in this movie, but, that’s OK. See it with the folks and thank me later. It goes in my Dan in Real Life Hall of Fame.