Hello, My Name Is Doris (2016)

Jack and I really liked this story of an eccentric woman in her late 60s with a crush on a co-worker half her age. Sally Field (last blogged for Lincoln) is wonderful in her naivety and colorful wardrobe. I guessed that she is 70, but that birthday is in November. As the object of her affections, Max Greenfield (best known for 105 episodes of New Girl, and he played Mortgage Broker #1 in The Big Short) is the ultimate nice guy. Tyne Daly (126 episodes of Cagney & Lacey, 138 of Judging Amy, won a 1990 Tony for the revival of Gypsy, plus many more, mostly TV, roles) and my old pal Caroline Aaron (she's been a part of Woody Allen's ensemble since Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), has had dozens of other supporting parts, most notably in Bounce (2000), as well as a lot of stage work in New York and LA) are great as Doris' age-appropriate friends. Stephen Root (most recently in Everything Must Go) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (we see bits of her appearances on The Goldbergs before we watch Modern Family on the DVR) are suitably mean as her brother and sister-in-law. Beth Behrs (the blonde in Two Broke Girls) plays another nice person and Peter Gallagher (among his best work are Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Malice (1993), Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), While You Were Sleeping (1995), American Beauty (1999), a series arc on Rescue Me in 2010, briefly mentioned by me in Adam, and now in season two of Togetherness on HBO) makes a short appearance as a pivotal character.

Laura Terruso's NYU short film Doris & the Intern attracted the notice of her professor Michael Showalter and they co-wrote this script for Showalter to direct (his second, after The Baxter (2005)). I've been trying to find a link to watch and share the original short but have been so far unsuccessful. If I find it I'll update this post.

Kudos to costume designer Rebecca Gregg (nominated by her peers for Iron Man (2008)) for her eclectic mix of 1950s and other thrift store outfits. The set dressing is also wonderful, from the trendy offices to Doris' diagnosably cluttered home, thanks to production designer Melanie Jones' team.

There's an extensive song list in addition to a nice lilting indie-movie soundtrack by Brian H. Kim (new to me but he's worked a fair amount as an orchestrator and TV show composer). Six of said tracks can be streamed here.

We had a pretty good crowd, not all gray-haired, on opening afternoon last Friday and the reviews have been good on Rotten Tomatoes: 86% for critics and 97 for audiences.