Hello, My Name is Doris

Sally Field is so sweet, likable and incredibly funny in Hello, My Name is Doris, about midway through, I seriously started to wonder why she doesn't get more work.  I know, it's hard for women Field's age to find work, especially leading roles like this.  It's a sad state of Hollywood that is most likely never going to change.  Still, I'm glad that she found this movie and this character.  This is easily her best work in years.

Field's Doris is a shy, introverted woman who hides herself behind big glasses, tacky clothes and a bow in her hair that looks like something Minnie Mouse would wear.  She is not a loner, and she does have friends, her best friend being played by Tyne Daly, who is also hilarious here.  But, Doris is a woman who has actually never lived.  It's not entirely her fault.  She was chosen to look after her often frail and sick mother, while her brother (Stephen Root) went off to college, and started a family.  As the film opens, Doris' mother has passed away, and all she seems to be left with is her Staten Island home (which is loaded with the junk that both Doris and her mother have collected over the years, and refused to throw away), and a dead end Data Entry job at a company in Manhattan, where all of her much younger co-workers seem to think of her as strange, or just completely ignore her.

Things change during a fateful elevator ride, when Doris happens to be pressed up against her new young and attractive co-worker, John (Max Greenfield from TV's New Girl).  Doris is immediately infatuated with him, but is to shy to say or do anything.  At first, all she can do is fantasize about various run ins that turn into steamy situations right out of the romance novels Doris loves to read.  But then, the granddaughter of Doris' best friend (Isabella Acres) introduces Doris to Facebook, and teaches her how she can find out about the man through his on line profile.  She uses this information to get closer to John, finding out what kind of music he listens to, and then picking up the same CDs that he likes, so they'll have something to talk about while at work.  This leads to a few times where Doris and John actually hang out together outside of work, and Doris starts to live outside of her sheltered and shut-in world for the first time.

The character of Doris is a tricky one, and you can tell that Field is walking a fine line.  On one hand, the woman is ridiculous, and the movie must reflect this.  We know deep in our hearts that there is no chance for John and her, but we don't want to feel sorry for her.  We want to see her open up and let herself out into the world.  At the same time, we don't want Doris to be a caricature or a "crazy lady" character.  There are moments when we are supposed to laugh at her efforts to enter John's more youthful world, but we shouldn't be doing it all the time, and we should also feel for her.  This is key.  If you go too far in either direction, you loose the audience.  Field, and director Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer), understand this and give us a character who can be goofy and yes, kind of desperate, but is never anyone that we feel sorry for.  This is Doris opening up the first time, and it's going to be awkward and there will be pain.  The movie understands this, and does not play it up, nor make Doris into a sketch comedy character of an older woman trying to act young.

For all of her funny and awkward attempts at fitting in, the movie never forgets to remember that Doris is human.  There are some wonderful dramatic moments as well, such as the scene where her therapist, her brother and his wife come to her home to help her sort through the junk that she and her mother collected over the years in the hopes that she can move beyond her tendencies of being a hoarder.  When Doris eventually lashes out at these people for what they are doing, it is a very emotional moment that reminds you what a great actress Field can be with the right material.  There is also a quiet but no less powerful moment where Doris and John are sitting in a restaurant, and Doris starts talking about the life she could have had if things had been different.  She reflects on a past relationship with great nostalgia and sadness, and we truly feel for her. 

It's about this time I realized that Hello, My Name is Doris is not just a movie about a crazy sitcom grandma looking for a date, which this movie could have easily become in the wrong hands.  Her love for John is really more the love for life that she has been denied all this time, half by circumstance, and half by her past choices.  While there are certainly moments where we are supposed to be laughing at Doris' failed attempts to fit in with the younger set, Doris is not a buffoon nor is she clueless.  She is someone who has been denied so much in life that she doesn't know how to act when the opportunities to live present themselves.  This approach, along with Field's winning performance, is what makes the movie a success.  It's depiction of the youth culture and hipster crowds actually feel kind of tiresome.  But it so perfectly captures the essence of the main character that we forgive the film for any of its faults that exist outside of her.

This is such a winning and charming film that I cannot imagine it not being a sleeper hit.  If anything, it proves that Field deserves more work, and hopefully her performance here will get her some much deserved attention.  With a little luck, this will be a career-reviving role for her.

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