First props to deviantart.com for this gorgeous art rendering of Bill Murray!
Ok, I was excited about St. Vincent. Wes Anderson cameos aside (most recently “Grand Budapest Hotel”), Bill Murray hasn’t had a lead role in a long while. And I’ve had a Bill Murray crush since his nerdy-sexy SNL days. Lost in Translation has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Since I also genuinely like Melissa McCarthy (even Tammy which haters tended to …well, hate) I had high hopes. While I did not love the movie as much as I thought I would, it’s still solid and I fought back tears at the poignant ending.
But yet, there was something clunky about the film, gears grinding…the trouble? First, Naomi Watts as a pregnant Russian prostitute? I get it, it’s quirky, it’s different, but I just didn’t believe her caricature-like portrayal. And there was also something odd about Bill Murray, something not smooth about what he was doing, or was it the script? I think I’d need a second viewing to make a determination.
At any rate, in this month’s Rolling Stone feature on B.M., it was reported that St. Vincent director Ted Melfi had to hire an assistant to follow Murray around so that he would make it to the set on time. While part of Bill Murray’s allure in my teens and onward was his savoir faire-walk to the beat of a different drummer, this anecdote turned me off. Or maybe I’ve finally become an adult. There’s eccentric, but then a very fine line to douchebagville if you know what I mean. Anyway, I guess if someone wants to rat on me, they can call Bill’s secret 1-800 number (also supported in the Rolling Stone) as he does not have a publicist or agent. Again, a man of free will or the hair between that and ‘unable to work with anyone’? Your turn to judge.
