Review of Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015) by Jesse O — 09 Apr 2017

I don't think I've ever given Sally Field (is it just me or does anybody else think there should be an S in her last name) the credit she deserves for amassing a career full of strong performances.

Whether it's in comedies, dramas or romance flicks, she's been a consistently good actress since she, pretty much, debuted in the mid-60s. And this movie, realistically speaking, succeeds on the strength of Field's performance.

That may sound a little harsh or derisive towards this movie, but it's really not meant to be, as I found the movie to be quite good. That's just how great Sally Field is in her role. Admittedly speaking, though, the film does rely heavily on indie quirk for its humor.

And there's not a problem with that, Little Miss Sunshine (one of my favorite movies of the 2000s) relied on this formula much to great success. But, let's be real here, this movie is in no way, shape or form comparable to Little Miss Sunshine.

To be fair, however, I don't think this was ever meant to compete with that. What I mean by the fact that it relies on this type of humor too much is that this is just another one in a long list of quirky indie comedies.

And I hate to almost sound dismissive of this movie, but there's really nothing that sets it apart from other films of this type. This is still a very well-written movie with a very interesting lead character at its core.

Doris is a woman who, realistically speaking, has not been able to live her life due to the fact that she remained home to care for her mother. She used to be engaged to this man in her 20s, but she broke up with the man in order to care for her mother.

Her adulthood was spent caring for her mother instead of leading her own life. Meeting new people, studying, etc. It's not that she's stuck in the past, though the fact that she hoards all of her and her mother's belongings says that she is unable to let go of the past.

So, obviously, when she meets a man who's half her age, who seems to be genuinely interested in her romantically, she just dives in headfirst and completely lets loose. She finally gets to live the life and have the fun that she never got to have in the first place.

That part of the movie is well-done, Doris is a very likable character and you want to see her come out of her shell that she's kept herself in, seemingly, for decades. Naturally speaking, things start to get complicated once Doris finds out that John (her crush, as it were) has a girlfriend.

This obviously devastates her, but it's a bit alleviated when she finds out that the girlfriend is actually a very sweet woman. Things, however, are complicated even further when Doris (using a fake account to get to know John's likes and dislikes) leaves a comment on John's Facebook page that causes his girlfriend to break up with him.

She suspected he was cheating on her. This is when Doris makes her move on John, as she tries to seduce him at this Thanksgiving party. Things end up poorly, John rejects her outright and leaves the room once Doris confesses she was the one who caused his girlfriend to dump him.

On top of all of this, Doris' brother is trying to get her to sell all the junk in her house and to get her to move out. I believe his intentions were pure, I think he was legitimately worried for his sister, but the way he goes about it clearly aren't the best and end up hurting Doris more than helping.

The movie hits the dramatic notes that you would expect. And I think the movie isn't great at drama, but it certainly does a serviceable enough job at it. I think the fact the dialogue was strong and the cast being top-notch certainly helped elevate some of the weaker moments.

I also wish they had used Doris' co-workers far more than they did. They had Natasha Lyonne and Kumail Nanjiani as part of the co-workers and it feels like they did absolutely next to nothing with them.

These two are really fucking talented and funny people. I just wish the film had used them move. With that said, the story plays out almost exactly as I had expected, but I still found that this was a good movie.

Sally Field's heartfelt performance is tremendous, the film is funny and the writing is good. Some of the narrative beats are a little predictable and not super effective, but this is still what I would call a good movie.

It's on Amazon Prime and I'd certainly recommend it. Not a wholehearted one, don't get me wrong, but it's a good movie that I think a lot of people will like.