What began as a school assignment for director Ted Melfi’s daughter eventually morphed into the story for his first feature film, titled St. Vincent. Melfi’s daughter was assigned the topic of finding a Catholic saint that inspired her to find someone in her life that shared the same attributes. She picked St. William of Rochester, who is the Patron Saint of adopted children, and selected Melfi as the real-life version.
Led by the dream cast of Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, and newcomer Jaeden Lieberher, St. Vincent is a heartfelt, tender and at times funny story about a 12-year old boy named Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher), who develops a very unlikely and unusual friendship with his surly next door neighbor, Vincent (Murray), who has a penchant for drinking, gambling, and a pregnant Russian prostitute named Daka (Watts).
Ted Melfi, who wrote, directed and produced the film was in town recently and spoke to the Banner about his feature debut.
Melfi always knew that he wanted Bill Murray in the role of Vincent, and was finally able to connect with the elusive actor after placing more than a dozen of calls to him on a 1-800 telephone number. According to Melfi, Murray took the role because he felt that the characters sounded like real people. Murray said to Melfi, “I can see a part of myself in this script. Anytime I can look at something and see a part of myself or feel the honesty of the script I know there’s something good in it.”
Maggie (McCarthy), who is going through an acrimonious custody battle, moves with Oliver into a new home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and is forced to work long hours at her new job. She realizes early on that her only option for afterschool care for Oliver is to have Vincent look after him. Unbeknown to Maggie, Vincent brings Oliver along on his daily stops at the race track, a strip club, and the local dive bar.
In the sweet coming-of-age story, Vincent becomes a surrogate father figure and helps Oliver slowly navigate his new world, and in turn, Oliver begins to see that underneath Vincent’s gruff exterior, he’s a misunderstood man with a good heart. Newcomer Jaeden Lieberher, who captures your heart right from the beginning, was cast for the role after Melfi saw him in a TV commercial. After auditioning 1,600 kids across the country, Australia, the U.K., and Canada, the film was four weeks out from shooting and “we were petrified” said Melfi.
“We were like, how the hell do we start without Oliver?” After seeing Lieberher in a Hyundai commercial during Superbowl weekend, he knew he had to have him for the role of Oliver. Melfi’s instincts were correct because the young actor proved to be “just so solid, stoic, confident and assured,” says the director.
“And, I thought if anyone can stand up to Bill Murray it’s this kid,” Melfi added.
Rounding out the superb cast is the very funny Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) as Oliver’s Catholic school teacher and priest; Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) as a local thug who is owed money by Vincent; Scott Adsit (30 Rock) as Maggie’s ex-husband; Dario Barosso (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Oliver’s grade school nemesis; and Greta Lee (HBO’S Girls) as an unsympathetic bank teller.
Prior to directing St. Vincent, Melfi had directed a hundred television commercials, most notably the Budweiser “Oh My God” ad, and the infamous MTV spot “Pizza Guy,” starring porn legend Ron Jeremy. In 2004, Melfi was nominated for the Best Young Director Award at the Cannes Lions international advertising festival, and he was also honored for his work at the Clio Awards as one of SHOOT Magazine’s Top 15 New Directing Talents.
Of working with Bill Murray on his first feature, Melfi said that Murray taught him how to relax.
“He has a philosophy that just oozes from him that everything is going to work out,” Melfi said. “Everything is going to work out in its perfect timing. It’s almost like biblical and it’s coming from him.”
Murray told Ted “you have to learn how to relax and you have to learn how to take your time.”
Melfi feels a great sense of accomplishment, having made St. Vincent.
“I’m proud of everything,” he said. “I’m proud of the work. The actors are proud of the work. We’re proud of it. I don’t think there are many experiences where you leave and go ‘I’m so proud of that.’”
St. Vincent is now playing at AMC Boston Common and Kendall Square Cinema.
