Bill Murray is a surly babysitter in the trailer for St. Vincent

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The first trailer for ST. VINCENT from writer/director Theodore Melfi has arrived and it’s pretty darn great. With a hint of BAD SANTA and ABOUT A BOY comes what I believe to be the perfect role for Bill Murray at this point in his career. He’s been trying for that Oscar for over a decade now, and it is roles like this that will keep him in the race. The dramedy is sure to tickle the funny bone and pull the heart strings.

Here's the synopsis:

A drunken, gambling war veteran retiree St. Vincent (Bill Murray) gets recruited by his new single-mom neighbor Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) to watch over her undersized 12-year-old son Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). Vincent's ideas of after-school activities involve racetracks and strip clubs, but eventually the mismatched pair begins to help each other grow up.

We have seen Murray take on more dramatic roles before with fantastic results (check out the underrated BROKEN FLOWERS). What I’m interested to see is how Melisa McCarthy handles something different than what she’s been showing audiences. She can only fall down so many times right? The movie also stars the always hilarious Chris O’Dowd and Naomi Watts as a dirty prostitute, when she’s clearly anything but.

ST. VINCENT opens in theaters on October 14, 2014.