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Hello, My Name is Doris
Score: 95%
Rating: R
Publisher: Sony Pictures Home
                  Entertainment

Region: A
Media: Blu-ray/1
Running Time: 90 Mins.
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Audio: English, French (PAR) 5.1 DTS-HD
           MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Gitial

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Features:
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Alternate Opening
  • Filmmaker Commentary

Hello, My Name is Doris is a delightful bittersweet romantic comedy/drama about a woman who desperately needs a change in her life and goes for it, following a self-help seminar.

Doris (Sally Field) is a woman in her mid-60's who has never had a life of her own. She lives in the home she grew up in, until very recently caring for her aging mother who just passed away. Her younger brother Todd (Stephen Root, Office Space) and his selfish wife Cynthia (Wendi McLendon-Covey, Bridesmaids) are pushing her to clear out the clutter-filled home and sell it (to get their portion), but Doris is overwhelmed with the recent changes in her life. She works for a clothing company where she's done data entry for God knows how many years, surrounded by her younger co-workers who just think of her as quirky Doris, a holdover from previous management, with her bizarre and colorful apparel and tchotchke-covered desk. After a weirdly intimate moment in a overly-crowded elevator with a handsome young man named John (Max Greenfield) that she'd soon discover is the new art director at her company, Doris decides to make a change and attends a self-help seminar with her best friends, Roz (Tyne Daly) and Val (Caroline Allen). Empowered by the seminar, Doris decides to pursue the much younger John, whom she's been crushing on since the first day.

Since she's been nothing but her mother's carer her entire life, she'll need a little help and Roz's mouthy granddaughter Vivian (Isabella Acres) is just the person. Together, they create a fake Facebook account so Doris can secretly get to know John. What begins as her trying out a new electronic band spirals into a growing friendship with John when he spies the CD on her desk and it blossoms from there when they begin spending more time together. Doris has a rich fantasy life and often envisions much more happening in her head then actually does (think Ally McBeal), which leads to some hilarious scenes between her and her co-workers, including John.

Doris also goes to see a therapist named Dr. Edwards (Elizabeth Reaser, the Twilight series) about her hoarding problem, at the prompting of her brother and his wife. However, as genuine changes start to take place in Doris' life and she really starts to get a sense of who she is, apart from the shadow she's been her whole life, she begins to discover her own self-worth and when she acts on it, she sets off a chain reaction of both hilarious and sad events.

Sally Field is absolutely brilliant, no matter the role, but I fell in love with her as the character of Doris. She is tentative and shy, yet bold when she begins making changes and reaching for the stars. She is hilarious in some of the get-ups she wears, yet she doesn't stand down when her brother and his wife attempt to belittle her. Field is simply a joy to watch in Hello, My Name is Doris, but aside from her, the cast is simply bursting with fantastic actors. Max Greenfield is adorable as John, and really, how could she help but fall for him? Tyne Daly is fantastic as Doris' encouraging friend Roz, but in addition to those previously mentioned, there's also Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley), Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black), Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Rebecca Winsocky (The Mentalist), Peter Gallagher (Law & Order: SVU), and Beth Behrs (Two Broke Girls). Seriously, the cast is ridiculously talented and each actor adds their own bit of genius to the film.

Special features include a selection of deleted scenes, an alternate opening (that sheds some serious light on Doris' life before her mother passed away) and a really enjoyable commentary by Writer/Director Michael Showalter.

Hello, My Name is Doris is an absolute delight and a movie I will definitely watch again. It's just a breath of fresh air and one I highly recommend.



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins
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