The new Bunuel?.....(possible spoilers)

"St Vincent" was so horribly disappointing and cliche that I was left wondering if I really understood the meaning of the story.

So here's my new understanding, whether Melfi intended this underlying message or not. St Vincent, embodied by Bill Murray's character, is one more icon that that gives John Q. Public "hope". Along with his rag-tag cast of props, he exudes the sense of one living on "the edge" or altogether given up, although he really has a heart of gold as indicated by his ostensible care for his addled wife (who conveniently dies at just the right time) and furry cat (just about the easiest pet you may opt to care for). He can rail against the bank, the nursing home, the bookie,....all the while making himself look like the underdog. But he's not really.....he's kind of like the those who coopt counterculture images as a ruse while continuing to exploit individuals and whole populations.

!!SpoilerWarn!! In the end, it will be champagne for all, even the impressionable kids who are looking up to St. Vincent for their leads in life, ......all except the fat lady. She will have to keep working her "overtime" 40 hour week to keep the "party of the inept" with the crumedgeon, the hooker and her baby, and the enthralled kids humming into the wee hours. And she is culpable as well.....hiding the act of breastfeeding while being complicit in the larger prostitution human values. !!EndSpoilerWarn!!

Sounds like a societal metaphor for pretty much the last century at least.

Then again, maybe as Freud indicated: "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar..."