Why I Saw It: It's been too long since Bill Murray led a movie.
Cast: Bill Murray is Bill -fuckin'- Murray, so what's left to be said about that? He's the eponymous Vincent and once you get used to his accent, he's great. Melissa McCarthy is less overly comedic than she normally is in movies, and after Tammy, that's a welcome change. Naomi Watts plays Vincent's stripper "girlfriend". She's not a highlight of the movie although it's hardly Watts' fault. Jaeden Lieberher is the kid at the center of the movie that moves in next door to Vincent. For a child actor in his first feature film role, you couldn't ask for much better. Chris O'Dowd has a small role as a priest/teacher at Lieberher's school and he may be the best thing in the movie.
Plot: Vincent is a man who lives along in New York. He's a degenerate drunk, a gambler, and a complete sonuvabitch. Or is he? Divorcee Maggie moves in a next door and Vincent starts babysitting her son, Oliver. He gets Oliver into all sorts of questionable stuff. There's a big falling out. Then, everything ends up fine when Oliver finds out all the good things Vincent has done in his life. I can only think of one place where the story zigs when you expect it to zag. That's not a bad thing. It just means that you aren't seeing this for the story.
Elephant in the Room: How broke is he really? The movie paints him as a guy who is very broke and overextending his funds. Somehow, he still has health insurance and can get drunk at bars repeatedly. Maybe I've just never been broke, but I have no idea how he can afford the things he does. It hurts the plausibility of the whole thing and distracted me a lot.
To Sum Things Up:
Bill Murray is worth the ticket and the closing credits are great. The story never gets fleshed out as much as I'd've liked, so the ending is a little forced/rushed. As familiar as it all was, I still got a little choked up at the end. I guess that's a sign of good casting or something. Whatever. This is a fine movie. Not a great one and definitely not a bad one. A fine movie.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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