St. Vincent
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: October 10, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 16, 2014
Nearly every scene is contrived, but Melfi has a nice way with dialogue, and the cast is uniformly outstanding. Read full review
83
HitfixGregory EllwoodSep 7, 2014
This may not be his signature work, but it’s Murray at the top of his game in the type of role audiences want to see him in. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierOct 9, 2014
Murray is always a delight, but his films with kids (“Meatballs,” “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”) give his unencumbered playfulness even more room to roam. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 7, 2014
With St. Vincent, the chief pleasure is comedy, which typically arises from waiting to discover what Bill Murray might do next. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOct 15, 2014
If you scratch the surface too deeply, a few things might not ring true, but there’s no greater pleasure to be had than the film’s opening and closing sequences during which Murray, alone on the screen, dances, then sings along to the music coming through his headphones. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallOct 23, 2014
This is first and foremost Murray's show, and the shortcomings in Melfi's script and direction are strangely appreciated. They give this singular comedian, who doesn't do it often enough these days, the room to let his buffalo heart roam. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyOct 17, 2014
A funny and appealing film. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaOct 17, 2014
Lieberher, a Philly native transplanted to L.A., is a reed-thin, wide-eyed wonder. There's none of that precocious Hollywood child-actor stuff going on; he's seriously thinking about what he has to say, assessing his words and their implications. It's rare to see any actor - let alone a novice, barely out of the single digits - so readily and naturally displaying inner thought in front of the camera. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 17, 2014
St. Vincent may be a little kinder and gentler than the likes of "Bad Santa," but there's enough inappropriate behavior and comedic friction to fuel an entertaining 103 minutes. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsOct 16, 2014
The iconic actor may be too gruff for sainthood, but Murray still retains a secret stash of soul. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsOct 16, 2014
For all the boozed and abusive amusement provided by the great Bill Murray in the good-enough St. Vincent, the moment I liked best was Naomi Watts as a pregnant Russian stripper, manhandling a vacuum across the Murray character's ancient carpet. In movies as in life, it's the little things. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoOct 10, 2014
St. Vincent is a piece of very well-made cheese, a movie in which one can feel its manipulations and heart-string pulling, but the talented ensemble makes those critical talking points easy to dismiss. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickOct 8, 2014
The crowd-pleasing St. Vincent provides Murray with his first comic vehicle in years. It’s a tour de force and a cause for major celebration. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyOct 8, 2014
Murray, of course, can play a redeemable misanthrope with one hand tied behind his back. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he has to do here because writer-director Theodore Melfi reins in his leading man with a script that doesn't know when to stop troweling on the sap. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreOct 8, 2014
Murray and writer-director Theodore Melfi play us like a music box, manipulating and charming our socks off even as the Vincent for whom the film is named curses, gambles, drinks and cheats — all in front of an impressionable 10-year old. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnSep 7, 2014
It's fascinating to watch Murray act circles around his existing appeal and play into it at the same time. Melfi's likable but utterly formulaic movie never rises to a similar level of ambition, which in this case actually works in its favor. It gives Murray room to play. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthSep 7, 2014
Formulaic, and at times a bit Sundance-by-numbers, it's still hard to deny that the charms of St. Vincent work even if you clearly can see the narrative machinery moving. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonOct 9, 2014
Naturally, Mr. Murray is a joy to watch. And he has brought so much joy to so many grumpy people he deserves whatever accolades he can accrue, even for a career-assessment comedy like St. Vincent. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyOct 9, 2014
In a roundabout way, St. Vincent delivers, though less as a film than a platform for an object lesson by St. Bill in effortless acting. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 7, 2014
Melfi comes up with any number of good and effective scenes and there’s plenty to enjoy in the performances. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 24, 2014
Stay in your seat for the end credits, in which Murray waters a dying plant and karaokes to Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm." That alone is worth double the price of admission. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyOct 16, 2014
Here’s how good an actor Bill Murray is. He does such a bristly, entertaining turn as a boozy curmudgeon in St. Vincent, that he saves first-time director Theodore Melfi’s obvious dramedy from sliding into a burbling sinkhole of schmaltz. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayOct 16, 2014
As a showcase for Murray’s proven rapport with his audience, St. Vincent occasionally threatens to become a self-congratulatory victory lap. But as a celebration, it’s a chance to revel in the Murray personae — wiseacre, hipster, humble man of the street and hell of a nice guy — that has allowed him somehow to reach mass-media stardom while retaining his own idiosyncratic niche. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigOct 9, 2014
A film in which precocious kids say things real kids never would, and larcenous drunks come off as adorable. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianOct 9, 2014
The actors create emotionally coherent and sympathetic characters from a collection of often contradictory, monumentally irresponsible, or just plain improbable actions. Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramJan 9, 2015
The home stretch is drenched in sticky-sweet sentiment, but Murray’s fans will rejoice at the chance to see their idol in full-on grouch mode. Read full review
60
EmpireSimon CrookDec 1, 2014
Murray’s finest, funniest, meatiest performance since "Lost In Translation" — just a shame it’s contained in such a lightweight dramedy. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 16, 2014
Melfi, who also wrote the script, goes for broke on the sappy front. It's a credit to Murray's skill — or maybe the strength of his personality — that he never submits completely to all the heart-string tugging. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriOct 10, 2014
The destination is often familiar and not always particularly interesting, but the ride itself isn’t always so bad, especially when you’ve got Bill Murray along for company. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 9, 2014
The actors don’t do all the heavy lifting by themselves. The uniformly good performances make it clear that Mr. Melfi knows how to handle actors, and there are some funny bits. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfOct 7, 2014
St. Vincent has nothing on Rushmore, an obvious forebearer, even though it strains for the same egalitarian spirit of thrown-together family, one that includes a pregnant Russian stripper (Naomi Watts) and a sympathetic but firm Catholic schoolteacher (Chris O’Dowd). Read full review
60
The GuardianCatherine ShoardSep 7, 2014
There is a contrivance to both story and script that grates, rubs up against Murray’s appeal as a loose cannon. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 10, 2014
Schmaltz this thick requires a director who can at least make us feel that our tears are not being shamelessly jerked. But St. Vincent is too clunky to hide its tear-slicked tracks. Maybe that’s a good thing. At least that’s more endearing than being worked over by a smooth operator who knows exactly which buttons to press. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerOct 8, 2014
St. Vincent goes down easier than it probably should. It helps that Lieberher, though saddled with some cutesy movie-kid dialogue, makes a sweet and empathetic sidekick for Murray (he calls him “sir” constantly, like Marcie in old Peanuts strips), and that McCarthy, like so many gifted comedians, proves capable of playing it straight as needed. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 16, 2014
So it is with St. Vincent, which might be Murray’s “Gran Torino” if you squint at it from one angle, or “Old Meatballs” if you come at it from another. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 16, 2014
The problem on which the movie turns is this: Bill Murray’s natural quality as an actor exudes self-knowledge and knowledge of the world. If he looks depressed, the aura suggests, it’s not because he knows less than we do. He knows more. Murray brings that quality to bear in St. Vincent, but it doesn’t fit. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'HehirOct 9, 2014
Murray, as always, supplies any number of small, memorable moments — he ultimately relies on the same defanged sentimentality. Read full review
50
The DissolveNathan RabinOct 8, 2014
St. Vincent is even sappier and more committed to yanking heartstrings and manipulating emotions than Hyde Park On Hudson or The Monuments Men, and ultimately even more precious and treacly. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedOct 8, 2014
Lazy, eccentric, chain-smoking and accident-prone, Mr. Murray gives ’em what they clamor for. His eventual redemption as a saint in disguise is predictable. The direction is negligent and the jokes are mild. It’s an O.K. little picture that doesn’t really go anywhere, but it has a resonance that is easy on the heart. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlOct 7, 2014
Some moments still work after the movie grows mawkish. Read full review
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