Doris

Much of today's world is aimed toward a younger demographic, with 50 being the "oldest" age many Millenials can fathom. For those of us who remember the 50s -- and perhaps the 60s -- fondly, we see 50 as being still in the youngish bracket, with old age starting with the big 7-0. In the past decade, films have trended younger and younger, with few aimed at the after-50 generations, even though we usually have both more discretionary income and unaccounted-for hours of leisure.

Today it was a pleasure to see a film, Hello, My Name Is Doris, starring Sally Fields as, perhaps, a 50-something or maybe even a 60-something. Her mother has recently died, and Doris is having a tough time accepting the loss. Doris and her mother shared a home, and both of the women favored picking up things that they cannot live without regardless of how old, used, worn-out or odd those items may be. Hence, the home is right at the edge between hoarding winning and still able to dig out from under the clutter. This problem comes to the forefront when Doris' brother comes to her and insists that they clean out the house and sell it -- so he can have his inheritance. Doris tells him that she's the one who put in the time, effort, and energy to keep their mother in that very house until the day she died, and she's not ready to leave it or the rooms filled with junque that should be carted off to the dump.

The focus of the film is on Doris, who, in her grief, is unexpectedly taken aback by a newly-hired employee at her worksite. He's gorgeous, young, and quite appealing, and played perfectly by Max Greenfield. Doris latches onto John and is totally smitten. Doris is a voracious reader of romance novels, and in her quest to be seen as a woman, Doris imagines a reciprocal relationship with John, a relationship that is woven into the story seamlessly and heightens the gap between what's real and what's happening in Doris's fantasies. Tyne Daly plays Doris's friend, a friend who tries to get Doris to accept the lack of reality in the "romantic" relationship with John that consumes Doris's life, but Doris takes offense with Daly's interference and prefers to live within her fantasy.

This is a sweet story that definitely appeals to an older demographic. We, the older audience, giggled our way through the romantic encounters, and tisk-tisked at the harshness of her sibling's demands that Doris give up everything she has ever known, including her worthless treasures from years of making finds with her mother, finds that came into the house and occupied a place of honor and told a story. Although this story definitely appeals to lonely 60-something women with a fetish for trashy romance novels and/or a hot sexual relationship with good-looking significantly younger men, this film also had the older men in the audience guffawing.

My son? My Daughter? I hear two loud "Really, Mom?"