Hello My Name Is Doris (2016) * * *

Directed by:  Michael Showalter

Starring:  Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs, Tyne Daly, Caroline Aaron, Stephen Root, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Peter Gallagher

I don't think there is anyone named Doris under the age of 60 anymore.    It's a nice name, but it has been replaced by trendier girls' names like Brooklyn, which is a name of the younger, prettier girlfriend of the guy Doris (Field) has the hots for.    In about 20 years, there will be numerous older women named Brooklyn, Katelyn, and Brittany and people will be saying how no one under 50 is called Brooklyn, Katelyn, or Brittany.    It's a cycle.

Hello My Name Is Doris is the story of 60ish, unmarried Doris Miller.    She works in an office in which she is clearly unappreciated and doesn't fit in.     Her only mistake is being older in an office full of young people.    She hides in her cubicle typing in things all day and is puzzled to learn her comfy chair will be replaced by a giant inflatable posture ball you see in gyms.     Her mother, whom she spent her prime years caring for, recently died and now she has a void in her life.     She was left with her family home which could be featured on a future episode of Hoarders.    Her brother Todd (Root) gently suggests that she see a therapist to deal with her hoarding.     She does reluctantly and is even more reluctant to throw anything away even though her stuff is threatening to fall on top of her.

One day on the elevator in her office building, Doris sees a vision who is forced to stand facing her in the crowd.     He is 30ish, handsome John Fremont (Greenfield), a newcomer to the company fresh from the "Los Angeles" office.     She is thunderstruck with love for the first time in a long, long time.     Any future meetings with him result in fantasies that come straight out of the romance novels she reads.      She knows she has very little chance of winning him, but after attending a self-help seminar with a speaker oozing smarminess from every pore, she decides to go after John.     Doris finds she is out of her depth with today's technology, but enlists the help of her best friend's 13-year old granddaughter to create a phony Facebook profile.     Sure, she poses as a young, hot woman with a master's degree, but hey at least she can gaze at John and learn about him.

For the first time maybe ever, Doris decides to come out of her shell in pursuit of John.     She learns who his favorite band is, buys the CD, and even goes to the band's concert.    She runs into John there and they connect, although his definition of connection and hers are very different.    Her bright outfit catches the eye of the band's lead singer, who then hires her to pose for their next album cover.     The Doris of even six months prior would never dream of being this adventurous.

She really believes she is making headway with John, until she meets his young, pretty, sweet girlfriend Brooklyn (Behrs), whose only crime is being John's girlfriend.     To Doris, that is enough reason to resent her.     Her resentment, fueled by alcohol, causes Doris to sabotage John's relationship via Facebook.     It's not a nice thing to do and out of character for Doris, but all's fair in love and war.

The movie succeeds or fails on how much we like Doris.    Sally Field, who exudes likability and sweetness, is the reason we like her.     Another actress may not have aroused our sympathy.     We admire the way she emerges from her shell of a life.     She was trapped, but the arrival of John forces her to make changes.    Even if she doesn't succeed, she at least decided to take one more shot at happiness which was put on hold as she cared for her sick mother.     We learn she once had a fiancée, but they broke up when he moved to Flagstaff and she stayed in Staten Island to be with her mother.    

Hello My Name Is Doris is a warm comedy.     John himself is a nice guy who at first tolerates Doris but then builds a genuine friendship with her.     He is not romantically interested in a woman 30 years older than him, but he's not dismissive of her either.     The movie doesn't transcend into greatness, but it maintains a gentle tone kind of like Doris herself.