[Minor Rock Fist Up]
Doris is not a good drunk.
Le me amend that. She’s a sweet-hearted person who’s a little misguided, especially when she drinks.
But, it’s kinda not her fault. She’s an aged woman — not quite elderly, but over middle aged — who never grew out of her teens. Her stunted growth has led to hoarding, daily fantasies, whimsical attire in the workplace, shyness and troubled relationships with what remaining family and friends she has left. The fact that she connects best with a teenager who’s the granddaughter of her best friend Val (Caroline Aaron), should suggest she needs to grow up.
Hello, My Name is Doris is multiple movies rolled together into one. It’s an off-beat comedy, it’s dramatic, there’s a love story and even a bit of fantasy, in a way. But most importantly, it’s a vehicle for Sally Field to shine. I cringed, laughed and felt empathy for Field’s Doris.
Audiences first meet Doris at her mother’s funeral. She lived with and cared for her mother and maybe that’s why she never really grew up, because she was still living with a parent well longer than a child probably should. Quickly, we get a peek into her personal life. While dealing with this tragedy, Doris’ brother Todd and his wife Cynthia (Stephen Root and Wendi McLendon-Covey) hound Doris about her hoarding and the necessity to sell her home. The mother’s body isn’t even in the ground yet.
This treatment by family is possibly why Doris is a daydreamer, something she quickly does after meeting John (Max Greenfield), her company’s new, hip art director. Sparks fly, albeit, only for Doris. She needs an in with John. Vivian (Isabella Acres), the teenager granddaughter of Val, suggests creating a fake Facebook account to creep on John as a way to get to know what he likes, what he dislikes, and whatnot. Soon, this leads to a run-in with John at a concert for his favorite band (great cameo by Bleachers and Fun.’s Jack Antonof, by the way).
At this point, the movie could’ve gone the traditional, quirky romantic comedy route where John and Doris form an nontraditional love and live happily ever after. But director and co-writer Michael Showalter is, if you know his comedy style, anything but traditional. Doris’ infatuation with John leads to heartache and rifts with her friends and family and between John and his girlfriend Brooklyn (Beth Behrs). It’s like Fatal Attraction, but not as deadly.
While the third act meanders and loses its way, the movie rights the ship enough for audiences to be satisfied with the end product. Those familiar with Showalter’s background will enjoy the humor in this movie; never on-the-nose and slightly off-beat. But enough can’t be said about Field’s performance.
This could not have been an easy character to leave behind at the end of the day or eve at the end of shooting. So much is going on in this woman’s life, but all she wants to do is whatever is going to make her happiest, even if that hurts people along the way. But her approach in obtaining happiness is never to intentionally hurt someone. It’s a fine line that Field manages beautifully.
Joe Jarosz is a Midwest boy living in California. As much as he likes to think he has an edge, he’s quick to cry at the latest animated movie he takes his kid to see.
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