St. Vincent
2014 · Directed by Theodore Melfi
Original language: English
- comedy
The story
A young boy whose parents just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic, war veteran who lives next door.
What it’s like
Warm, slightly grimy suburban light: sunlight through drying blinds, the flat glare of a Brooklyn-adjacent street, shabby interiors lit by lamps and a dim kitchen. The camera stays mostly conventional and unhurried, letting scenes play out in medium shots and two-shots, with few flourishes beyond the occasional wide of a rundown neighborhood. Sound leans on a bright, sentimental piano-and-strings score that swells at the tender moments and steps back for the jokes, with plenty of room for dialogue and bickering. The vibe is wry, scruffy comfort: a gentle comedy with a bruised heart, the kind of thing to put on for a lazy weekend afternoon or a comfort rewatch. Pacing is easy and episodic, built around a grumpy older man and a lonely, bullied kid slowly becoming reluctant allies, each softening the other across a season of small irritations and thaws. The tone is mostly light, with sharp-edged humor, coarse language, and boozy, adult crudeness, but no real violence, and the darker moments (a divorce, money trouble, a hospital scene) are handled with restraint rather than dread. Brief moments of peril are resolved quickly. For people who want a funny, big-hearted story about an unlikely friendship, with rough edges and no cruelty.
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