Plot

A young boy whose parents have just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic war veteran who lives next door.

Vincent is an old Vietnam vet whose stubbornly hedonistic ways have left him without money or a future. Things change when his new next-door neighbor's son, Oliver, needs a babysitter and Vince is willing enough for a fee. From that self-serving act, an unexpected friendship forms as Vincent and Oliver fulfill much of each other's needs. As Vincent mentors Oliver in street survival and other worldly ways, Oliver begins to see more in the old man than just his foibles. When life takes a turn for the worse for Vincent, both find the best in each other, while no one around them suspects.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Vincent McKenna, an angry and misunderstood alcoholic, is befriended by his 11 year old neighbor Oliver who moves in next door with his mother after his parents divorce. After financial trouble, he offers to watch the kid after school for a fee and takes him to the races, bars and teaches him how to fight. Along with the help of Daka, his pregnant stripper significant other, Oliver searches to find the saintliness in his grouchy misunderstood neighbor.—ahlerd12

The grumpy and unpleasant Vincent is a veteran Vietnam sergeant completely broken that gambles in horse races and owes money to the shark Zucko. He is a regular client of the stripper Daka that is closed to him. When the CT operator Maggie moves with her son Oliver to the next-door house, Vincent offers to babysit him to make money. Maggie, who is facing a divorce process, accepts and soon Vincent finds that Oliver is bullied at school. He teaches the boy how to defend himself; he takes him to visit Sandy in a nursing home; and to go to the horse races and bars. Soon they become friends and partners. When Brother Geraghty asks his students to prepare a lecture about a saint, Oliver learns the life of Vincent and understands his behavior.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ted Melfi's comedy St. Vincent stars Bill Murray as a crusty old man who ends up caring for the son of his new neighbor (Melissa McCarthy). Although he's a cynic who gambles, drinks, and frequents strip clubs, Vincent turns out to be exactly the mentor the 12-year-old kid needs as the young one adjusts to his parents' divorce, and life at a new school.