St. Vincent

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Theodore Melfi directs. John Lindley behind the camera. Theodore Shapiro scores. Sarah Flack cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.
• 2Released 12 years ago.
• 3Directed by Theodore Melfi, shot by John Lindley. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Theodore Shapiro. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Sarah Flack shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy and Jaeden Martell carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "With neighbors like these, who needs family?".
• 8IMDB entry: tt2170593 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

John Lindley

Original score

Theodore Shapiro

Editing

Sarah Flack

Production design

Inbal Weinberg

Costume design

Kasia Walicka Maimone

Makeup / hair

Chris Lyons

VFX supervisor

Randall Balsmeyer

Runtime

102 min · 1h 42m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$13,000,000

Box office

$54,837,234

Return

422% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

St. Vincent (2014) ↗

Also by

Theodore Melfi

• 
  Hidden Figures

  2016 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Winding Roads

  1999 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Starling

  2021 · ★ 6.9
• 
  The Black Ghiandola

  2017 · ★ 6.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  St Vincent (2014) Official Trailer [HD]

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Kamurai2021-02-24
  ★ 8/10

  Great watch, would watch again, and do recommend. Any movie that gets me to well up with tears is an automatic winner in my book. I always wanted to see Bill Murray play a grumpy old man, and this movie is a little more "About a Boy" than "Up!", but it's a good middle ground between the two. There is something wholesome, even when it's specifically not, about a kid being taught life lessons by someone. It's something special that I feel like I haven't see enough of, and I'd love to do myself. It's also interesting to see a coming of age story that doesn't revolve around the character coming of age and a romance. It is possible to grow up without focusing on sex, it's like a reverse Bechdel test. This is completely worth the watch, and the movie does a great job of embodying it's own message of being rough on the outside with goodness on the inside.

  Read full review ↓
• Peter McGinn2022-09-15
  ★ 8/10

  i had watched this years ago, and upon watching it again recently, I was surprised to see that it features Melissa McCarthy. I must not have been as familiar with her special comedic skills then as I am now or I would have remembered. This is one of my favorite quiet films. It ends up as a feel good movie — one of those where a large group of people appreciate someone at the end. Like anything from the Alan King character in Memories of Me (at his funeral!) to the exceedingly less likable Al Pacino jerk in Scent of a Woman. I believe the Vin character would be less likable himself in the hands of many actors. I have been pleasantly surprised at Bill Murray’s acting curve since Saturday Night Live. He brings bits of himself into most roles, I think, but he is great at subtle gestures, tone of voice, pausing for effect, and other tools of acting. He reminds me of Mark Ryland, who also makes acting look easy. I actually feel sure that Murray’s totally improvised the final scene during the end credits where he waters a plant and everything else in his back yard. I like that the movie doesn’t take shallow, cheap shots at people like it could. Even the cheating, divorcing dad is given a more positive spin before we are done. The four main actors are terrific here, and the two child actors who play Oliver and the bully are great also. As a side note, I saw a statistical oddity on a certain review site name after a rotten vegetable (or fruit, depending upon who you ask), as this is the only movie I have looked up that has the exact same rating by both the critics and the audience (78). That sounds about right to me, too. And speaking of credits, I really need to try to stop wincing when I see The Weinsteins listed in the opening credits.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Chernin Entertainment

  US

• 

  The Weinstein Company

  US

• CR

  Crescendo Productions

  US

• GO

  Goldenlight Films

Key crew

• Music SupervisorRandall Poster
• ProducerPeter Chernin
• ProducerTheodore Melfi
• Production DesignInbal Weinberg
• CastingLaura Rosenthal
• EditorSarah Flack
• ProducerFred Roos
• ProducerJenno Topping
• EditorPeter Teschner
• Still PhotographerAtsushi Nishijima
• Executive ProducerHarvey Weinstein
• Executive ProducerBob Weinstein
• Executive ProducerDon Cheadle
• Co-ProducerKay Liberman
• Associate ProducerKimberly Quinn
• Executive ProducerDylan Sellers
• Executive ProducerG. Mac Brown
• Co-ProducerIvana Lombardi
• Co-ProducerKathryn Tyus-Adair
• Associate ProducerDon Block
• Co-ProducerJohn Landolfi
• Special Effects Makeup ArtistChris Lyons
• Art DirectionMichael Ahern
• Set DecorationJasmine Ballou Jones

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• friendship
• babysitter
• neighbor
• divorce
• child of divorce

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2014-10-24PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• St. Vincent - Mein himmlischer NachbarDE
• Um Santo VizinhoBR