“Hello, My Name Is Doris” is the sort of film that seems like it could be decent and ends up being completely awesome. I was skeptical of the 60-year-old-falls-in-love-with-a-twenty-something story but it doesn’t take long to realize that this silly plot is merely a means of delivering the relatable themes of loneliness and acceptance. The dynamic (and sometimes over-the-top) characters drive the story with comedy that is sometimes brainless and other times sophisticated. This may be Oscar-winner Sally Field’s finest performance ever. She plays the “crazy cat lady” so perfectly that you will easily see someone that you know in her. Once you add the emotional layers of loneliness, grief, regret, and shyness on top of the comedic character role, it is astounding. The writers deserve a great deal of credit for creating this unique, memorable character and there is nobody better suited to bring it to life than Field. I love that the character has laugh-out-loud moments as well as an emotional breakdown that really allows Field to flex her acting muscles. Every moment is enhanced by her zany wardrobe - the costumers must have had a blast working on this film. Tyne Daly’s character “Roz” also stands out with a fiery personality that perfectly contrasts the timid Doris. Unfortunately, the writers also overused profanity where it was completely unnecessary. If the writers could have pared the script down to two f-words (which was totally possible), this could have been a great film for parents to teach their teens some important lessons. Once again, the Hollywood standard for comedy isolates a ton of potential audience members. They redeem themselves with an incredibly clever ending that ends up being the only way to conclude the film without it being creepy or depressing. “Hello, My Name Is Doris” is a unique film that will make you laugh with its comedy and leave you reflective on its topical theme of reaching out to the lonely, inevitably inspiring a realization of how much the loner can contribute to society.
[Pictured: Sally Field elevates her comedic role through a combination of humor and loneliness]
No comments:
Post a Comment