Relationships are complicated. In “Hello, My Name is Doris”, Sally Field stars as the title sixty-something-year-old single woman who sports a wig extension, wears up to two pairs of glasses at once, and is clearly the oldest employee at her longtime NYC office job. Doris is mourning the recent death of her mother, and her brother and his wife think this is the perfect opportunity for the clutter-obsessed Doris to get rid of all the random (and heavily sentimental) items that fill her house and move to an apartment. What’s holding Doris back is her lasting devotion to her mom, who dominated much of her life, even ruining a potential marriage some four decades earlier.
But Doris soon experiences a new sense of freedom from an instant attraction to a much younger co-worker. John (played by “New Girl”‘s Max Greenfield), is an art director who was transferred from Malibu to the NY office. He’s half Doris’ age, but this doesn’t discourage her one bit. However, at this point in the script, Doris unfortunately says “hello” to the “Cinematic Cliche Crush Path”: she secretly obsesses over John (including daydreams that we see on screen); obviously he just sees her as a co-worker/new friend. But then their relationship strengthens, and even when road blocks enter the picture, Doris finds the motivation and strategy to keep things going.
“Hello, My Name is Doris” suffers from a story that is undeniably familiar. And yet – it’s through Doris that we find ourselves not wanting her to fall into the trap that unrequited love can produce. Doris is quirky, honest and innocent beyond comprehension. She instantly embraces a motto from a self-help expert, who turns the word impossible into I’m Possible.
The Doris character is a lot to buy into, and several of her blatantly over-the-top and goofy scenes don’t help. However, there are just as many realistic and on-point ones. Like someone in love for the very first time she keeps mementos, including a pencil from her initial, elevator encounter with John and uses Facebook (with the help of a friend’s 13-year-old daughter) to learn his interests. She’s eager to simply chat with him in the hallways about random topics. She completely, and wholeheartedly, lets this connection take over her life. And when pushed to the limit, she makes mistakes, but defends the type of person she is and stays true to herself even when things seem to have fallen apart.
“Hello, My Name is Doris” is not nearly as interesting, nor as funny, as it could’ve been. It’s Field’s performance that saves the film from being completely irrelevant. The veteran actress makes us care about Doris from the first scene to the last, even though we can see the triumphs and troubles of her situation coming from a mile away.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Hello, My Name is Doris” gets a C+.
Running Time: 95 min.