School Movie Month: St. Vincent

St. Vincent (2014)

There are certain words and concepts about which there is little agreement. For instance, “chili” in Texas is mainly beef and chili paste and flavorings. But there is also “chili” for vegetarians with a bean focus and peppers and onions and a lot of spice. And then there is Cincinnati “chili” which can consist of catsup and hotdogs on top of noodles and is an abomination against all that is right and holy.

“Saint” is another word subject to a variety of definitions. For Protestants, “saint” is a general term for Christians; Ephesians 4:12 in the King James Version talks about the “perfecting of the saints” referring to everyone in the Church. In the Catholic Church, on the other hand, a person isn’t called a saint unless they reach a special degree of holiness, which must be judged by special ecclesiastical judicial proceeding, canonization. The definition of “saint” in the movie St. Vincent is more, um, loose than either of these.

St. Vincent is the story of a boy named Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) who moves to a new city with his mother (Melissa McCarthy) to begin a new life away from Oliver’s adulterous father. Oliver must enroll in a new parochial school, St. Patrick’s. On his first day of school, Oliver’s fellow students break into his locker and steal his bus money, phone, and house key. Apparently, no teacher and no priest in the school comes to Oliver’s aid. Since Oliver’s mother is at work, he must walk home in his gym clothes. Since he can’t get in, he knocks on his neighbor’s door. That neighbor is an old curmudgeon named Vincent (Bill Murray).

The school does a little better in religion class than they did in P.E. The class is run by a good natured priest, Brother Geraghty. (The priest is played by Chris O’Dowd, an atheist actor who has stated someday religion will be viewed as unacceptable and offensive as racism. But being a decent actor, no one would guess that view from his performance.) The priest introduces Oliver to the class and asks him to lead the morning prayer. Oliver objects that he can’t, “I think I’m Jewish.”

Brother Geraghty assures Oliver that’s fine. There are many religions represented in the class, “We have Buddhists, agnostics, a Baptist and an ‘I Don’t Know’ which may be the world’s fastest growing faith. We celebrate all religions in this class. Though Catholic is the best because we have the best rules and the best clothes.”

Oliver does pray, “Dear God, Thank you. Amen”  

The priest affirms the prayer, “Stirring stuff.”

We see more of this religion class. The priest teaches a unit on saints. He asks for examples of saint and a kid mentions St. Jude. When asked what St. Jude did, the kid responses “He owns a hospital and runs a golf tournament.”

The priest doesn’t bother to correct him. Instead he defines a saint as someone who serves other people at great sacrifice. He makes no mention of God or holiness which is rather odd for a Catholic priests.

Brother Geraghty assigns the students the project of a report on a saint of their choice.

Meanwhile, Vincent cares for Oliver when his mother is working at the hospital. Vincent is an unconventional sitter, taking Oliver to a bar and the racetrack. Vincent also introduces Oliver to a Russian woman, Daka (Naomi Watts), as someone who works in the world’s oldest and “most honest” profession. Vincent also teaches Oliver how to fight dirty.

Oliver beats up Robert, one of the kids who stole his stuff, breaking Robert’s nose. Oliver’s mom is called to the school ot meet with the principal and Brother Geraghty. She says that the school doesn’t want to hear her troubles and the principal says, “We have loads of time.” She pours out her life story, including details of her husband’s affairs, and the men listen with incredible patience and compassion. For punishment, Robert and Oliver are assigned to clean bathrooms together and the boys become friends.

The students are to present their reports on saints in a “Saints Among Us Assembly” which is open to parents, friends, and apparently the general public. Oliver chooses as his saint his neighbor Vincent (as noted above, Brother Geraghty has a rather elastic definition of saints). Oliver says, “Saints never give up. Saints fight for themselves and others. Saints make sacrifices.  Saints are human beings, very human beings.” He introduces Vincent, acknowledging all of his vices.

I was debating how many steeples to give the clergy who run St. Patrick’s. The most disappointing moment is the lack of care Oliver receives that first day of school, but at the end of the film we see Oliver at a meal. He asks the blessing for the food and crosses himself (with some direction from Robert). Seems the priest must have done something right. So I’m giving them Three Steeples. Plus - for Groundhog's Day alone, Bill Murray deserves Sainthood.

New Hampshire film on the big screen

Gilford Cinema 8, Gilford, NH

We happened upon this theater en route to the Funspot (which isn’t just the largest video arcade in New Hampshire; according to the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the largest in the world). But we found this theater, which was obviously either being renovated or being built brand new.

I regularly read predictions of doom and gloom for the movie theater business. People say that grown-ups are waiting to stream their movies on their home theater systems, and kids are watching movies on their phones, and movie theaters are as good as dead.

Then I see places like this, in a rural resort area of New Hampshire where people are not just putting new money into a movie theater, but even maintaining what seems to be a thriving two screen drive-in nearby. And neither of these theaters are owned by the big chains (you can’t have them all, Regal, though I saw you have some of ‘em in NH). I’m sure in a matter of weeks or months all the cardboard boxes will be dealt with, and the carpets will be laid. But for now, I found the whole mess to be a charming sight.

Our viewing options were limited. It was either a horror film (Lights Out or Nerve) which quickly won a veto from Mindy, a film we’d already seen, or one of two retreads: Ghostbusters or the new Bourne film. And now that Jason has his memory back, what’s the point?

Sadly, the film we saw -- the new version of Ghostbusters -- was not charming at all. If you been fortunate enough to miss it, the film has been at the center of an internet controversy. It was blasted, sight unseen, by some internet commentators. Other internet commentators accused those critics of being sexist. You see, these Ghostbusters are women as opposed to the original 1984 set of manly Ghostbusters.

Well, we saw the new Ghostbusters and it is, in fact, awful. I’d read comments from some folks saying that the film was funny until the big CGI mess at the end. The CGI battle at the end was a mess, but the film was awful all the way through. Even the few minutes with the great Bill Murray didn’t do the trick (let alone the fleeting glimpses of Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Dan Ackroyd and Sigourney Weaver.) And if you think I just hate it because I am sexist, I will let you know that my wife, Mindy, who is, in fact, a woman, also thought it was horrible, but not because the main characters were also women.

Was it bad enough for me to wish for the death of movie theaters? No. Because this year we also saw things like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Hail Caesar, Finding Dory, Sing Street, Captain America: Civil War, and more that we loved on the big screen. But I sure hope this Ghostbusters doesn’t have a sequel.

New Hampshire films on the small screen

If I was pressed to name my favorite living movie star (RIP Boris Karloff), I’d have to go with Bill Murray. Since I often laugh when I merely see a Murray smirk, the entertainment quotient is most high. I’m happy to kick off this post with a film set in New Hampshire that features one of the legend’s funnier performances: 1991’s What About Bob?

The film tells the story of a psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Marvin  (Richard Dreyfuss), who gets more than he bargains for when he agrees to take on the petri dish of phobias and neurosis that is Bob (Murray). The doctor tries to leave his practice in New York City behind for a vacation at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. But Bob -- and his fish -- find a way to join him.

There are no churches in the film, but it illustrates the great challenge of loving your neighbor as yourself (not many people in the film do this very well). We watched this film a day after visiting the real Lake Winnipesaukee. It looked nothing like it. The end credits of the film include thanks to Virginia, the true filming location.

Lake Winnipesaukee was also used as a shooting location for the award winning 1981 drama, On Golden Pond. The story of a cranky old man Norman (Henry Fonda’s last performance) and his difficult relationships with his daughter (real life daughter Jane Fonda) and wife, Ethel (Katharine Hepburn, who met Fonda for the first time on the set), the film won Oscars for Best Actor, Actress and Screenplay. Though set in New Hampshire, Ernest Thompson based his screenplay on his experiences in Maine. And scenic footage from the film was used for the CBS sitcom Newhart, which was set in Vermont.

With a name like The Hotel New Hampshire, you probably already guessed that the 1984 film based on John Irving’s odd novel about family comedy and tragedy was filmed in Canada. But another film based on the work of an acclaimed novelist, Russell Banks, 1997’s Affliction, well, it was filmed in Canada as well, even though it tells the story of the troubled relationship of a small town New Hampshire policeman (Nick Nolte) and his father (James Coburn, whose performance won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.) There have been two versions of Vladimir Nabokov’s classic novel about pedophilia, Lolita, but neither Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed 1962 version nor Adrian Lynn’s not so acclaimed 1997 version filmed the New Hampshire scenes in New Hampshire. The 1940 film version of Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town did include some background shots from New Hampshire.

John Carpenter’s 1994 cult horror film, In the Mouth of Madness, about a writer whose novels come to life, is set in New Hampshire but was filmed in Canada. Joe Johnson’s 1995 kids’ cult film, Jumanji, about a board game that comes to life is set in New Hampshire and (surprise!) was also chiefly filmed in the state (though some of it was filmed in Canada and Maine).

1941’s The Devil and Daniel Webster (aka All That Money Can Buy), based on the Stephen Vincent Benet short story is set in New Hampshire and features one of the state’s most acclaimed historical figures (Webster, not Old Scratch). I couldn’t find where it was filmed, which leads me to believe it was filmed in Hollywood rather than New Hampshire.

John Sayles’s 1980 drama, Return of the Secaucus 7, about the reunion of college classmates, was set and filmed in New Hampshire. The film is widely considered a cornerstone of the modern independent film movement and the model for Lawrence Kasden’s The Big Chill.

New Hampshire native son Adam Sandler has set a number of films in his home state, such as  Click, Mr. Deeds and Eight Crazy Nights, but even he doesn’t actually film in New Hampshire. (Which is at least understandable for Eight Crazy Nights, since it’s animated.)

Get Low (2009)

I look at "Get Low" as the third in the Robert Duvall Christian trilogy (starting with "Tender Mercies," followed by "The Apostle") and like other third films in the tradition of great movie trilogies (The Godfathers, original Star Wars, and Back to the Futures), this one is a step down. But it is still a very good film, and it gives us not just one, not just two, but maybe, if you stretch things, three churches to examine.

Robert Duvall stars in this "based on a true story" film of a man who wants to attend his own funeral. Set in Tennessee in the 1930's, a hermit, Felix Bush, wants to have a "funeral party," but unlike Huck and Tom, everyone knows Bush is alive. He's a man of mystery who has been the focus of scurrilous stories for decades. And he says he wants a time when his story can be told.

Felix first enters a church to consult a local minister with what is described as a "big, greasy ball of money" and asks if the pastor's heard the stories about him. The pastor says "Gossip is the devil's radio," and he claims he doesn't listen. The Reverend Gus Horton (played by Gerald McRaney of "Simon and Simon" -- I believe he played Simon) tells Felix if he's looking to buy forgiveness, he's in the wrong place. Forgiveness is free; he just needs to ask for it.

This is a church I would consider attending based on the words and deeds of the pastor. He's unwilling to be bought, though it is obviously a church struggling financially in a poor community. And he presents the gospel clearly.

Though the local church is not willing to oblige Felix for cash, the local funeral home, run by Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), is more than willing to do so. Quinn sends his assistant, Buddy (Lucas Black), to go with Felix to see an old pastoral friend in Illinois to see if he'll speak at the service. But the Reverend Charlie Jackson (Bill Cobbs) isn't willing to bend to Felix's whims either. He asks Felix whether he has confessed to God, to the law, and those he's harmed. Felix tells him he hasn't been looking for forgiveness, that he built himself a prison he's been living in for decades.

I might consider at least visiting Jackson's church in Illinois. The building itself is a beautiful wooden structure that was built years before by Felix Bush.

So the funeral service takes place on Felix's property in the woods. Though not a church, true worship takes place at this service when true repentance finally takes place as well. I've always liked outdoor services.

There is one more funeral service at the end of the film. Both Reverends Horton and Jackson attend. It's probably worth noting that Jackson, who preaches at this service, is African American, but no mention of this is made. In that time and place, this says something very good about all the churches involved, earning them 3 steeples.