doris

Sweet Sally Field. I can never get let go of her roll in ‘The Flying Nun’ which I watched (hmm) religiously as a kid.

But here she is, post Forest Gump, The Amazing Spider Man and some less significant tv roles. And she brings all the things we love together—romance, youth, quirkiness and her sweet ways in her role as ‘Doris’—the odd older woman who works in a Manhattan ad agency in the film Hello, My Name is Doris. Dressed in mismatching plaids, stripes and solids, Doris is never seen without her cat-eye glasses, and often seen with an additional pair of reading glasses. Her pin-in hairpiece and colorful headbands add to her bohemian quality, which turns out to be a win-win in a young person’s world, as her younger co-workers find her to be oddly ‘hip.’

But Doris is actually a loner who happens to fall head-over-heels for the newest recruit at the agency. A handsome young transplant, he at first, humors Doris, but the friendship quickly turns into a close confidante for him; a potential romance for her. Her best friend (Tyne Daly) thinks she’s lost her mind, but as good friends do, stands there to pick up the pieces when the saying ‘there’s no fool like an old fool’ comes true. Doris goes through a variety of schemes to wind up smack in the young man’s path, which brings her great fun—if for only awhile.  Her dreams are vanquished, if only temporarily, when she posts something on Facebook that actually breaks up his actual romantic relationship.

Meanwhile, her brother and his wife are trying to coerce Doris out of her over-crowded, hoarded, long-term home, shared with her recently deceased mother. Her hoarding is intricate to the plot, as it seems, hoarders get stuck in a period of time and can’t part with anything sentimental at all.

In the end, we’re left with a open-end, not knowing what might really happen for Doris after all. She has agreed to clear out the house and perhaps, make a new beginning, but her day-dreaming about her heart-throb transitions from fantasy to reality—or does it?

It’s a cute flick for women ‘in-the-middle’ and anyone who likes to see the power of a triumphant woman.