SHE’S NOT READY TO ACT HER AGE.Â
As Doris Miller (Sally Field) mourns the loss of her mother and refuses to deal with her hoarding problem, she also falls in love with a much younger new co-worker (Max Greenfield). This adaptation of a short that co-writer Laura Terruso made is a lovely vehicle for Field who delivers her finest performance in years as a shy but quirky woman in her 60s whose infatuation with the friendly, attractive co-worker brings her out of a shell. A nice supporting cast is icing on the cake, especially Tyne Daly as Doris’s plain-talking best friend. The story follows a familiar formula and threatens to become too mundane, but survives because of its charm and honest interest in the leading character’s plight.
2016-U.S. 95 min. Color. Produced by Daniel Crown, Kevin Mann, Riva Marker, Jordana Mollick, Daniela Taplin Lundberg. Directed by Michael Showalter. Screenplay: Laura Terruso, Michael Showalter. Cast: Sally Field (Doris Miller), Max Greenfield (John Fremont), Beth Behrs (Brooklyn), Wendi McLendon-Covey, Stephen Root, Elizabeth Reaser… Kumail Nanjiani, Tyne Daly, Peter Gallagher.
Last word: “Sally Field was a total shot in the dark. I certainly don’t know her other than I’m a huge fan of hers and have been for a really long time. I felt that she would be amazing in this part and offered her the role not thinking that she would want to do it but she did want to do it and of course once she is cast the rest is pretty easy. Once you are able to tell other actors that Sally Field is playing the lead role it’s pretty easy to cast the movie after that because all the other actors want to work with her.” (Showalter, Beliefnet)
