Saints And Sinners (Movie Thoughts: Saint Vincent, The Last Time You Had Fun)

I  had a chance to catch up on some movies that I have meant to watch and write about. First up is "Saint Vincent," which was a crowd-pleasing hit last year. Directed by Theodore Melfi, we've seen this movie before, about the curmudgeon with a heart of gold. It's just a slight variation on the hooker with a heart of gold, but wait, Naomi Watts plays that character in this movie as well. So we see a whole bunch of people here with hearts of gold. In hard circumstances. Melfi squeezes the tears out of the viewer with a carefully manipulated story, and at first the cynic in me was trying to resist it, until i realize that I was tearing myself up. The performances here are what's golden: on a lesser year, Bill Murray would probably have had Academy Award mentions, and I was duly impressed with Naomi Watts as a Russian hooker who takes care of Murray's character. And even though I really loathe Melissa McCarthy as an actress, it was nice to see her more subdued here - no need for her larger than life characterizations. This movie as a rental more than delivers. I bet it can even make you cry.

And I was crying, too, while watching "The Last Time You Had Fun," but more from boredom and regret. I can't even discern why this movie exists. It focuses on four unhappy married people (not too each other)  They are all white, they are all privileged, but boo hoo for one reason or another they look for reasons why their life sucks. I can't bother with this people. Somehow I couldn't find the strength to empathize with these insufferable and shallow folks.