St. Vincent is one strange movie.  It centers on a deeply troubled man, Vincent MacKenna (Bill Murray) whose isolated life of drudgery is interrupted by the arrival of new neighbors — and a second chance.  The neighbor kid, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher), is respectful enough to Vincent to register on his radar, and the older man sort of takes the kid under his wing.  Before long, Oliver has been introduced to self-defense moves, racetrack betting, dusty lessons in economics and a rare glimpse into the life of someone who doesn’t know how to interact with others any more.

Theodore Melfi’s film positions Vincent as the neighbor from hell, a grubby, profane, grotesque jerk, but then, as seen through Oliver’s eyes, is a decent man with a lot of troubles who has deliberately screened himself off from others.  The only people who like him at all are Oliver, a sexy, pregnant Russian prostitute (Naomi Watts) and his cat.  It’s all a bit much, but the actors make it work rather effectively.

It may be too much for some.  Naomi Watts’ Russian accent is almost a caricature — but it is consistent.  Melissa McCarthy is very good as Oliver’s mom, in a role that is almost purely dramatic, which is bound to frustrate McCarthy’s comic fans.  When her custody case for Oliver goes to court, her side is so pitifully overmatched that it is difficult to believe.  Vincent’s trouble with a local bookie (Terrence Howard) is so hackneyed it is almost painful to watch.  At least one factor works in the film’s favor: Vincent is portrayed by Bill Murray.

The story is plotted in spurts and jumps, with a twist about two-thirds of the way through that almost ruins everything.  Melfi seems to want to torture Vincent in every conceivable way before elevating him to sainthood at the conclusion.  It is this odd climax, delivered by Oliver with the elocution of a Harvard graduate, that saves the film for me.  You cannot help but make judgments about the characters in any movie but Oliver argues that unless you see someone really close up, you never know who they really are, and they might surprise you.  It’s a nice point to make, and the film backs up Oliver’s feelings about Vincent, and the movie concludes on a positive, feel-good note.  Before Oliver’s presentation, this was a ☆ ☆ movie for me, aided only by Naomi Watts’ sensational legs.  But Oliver’s presentation is outstanding, makes the movie’s thematic point quite forcefully, and redeems the time spent with Vincent MacKenna.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  10 December 2014.