Mr. Movie: ‘Hello, My Name is Doris’ one of the year’s funniest movies

Sally Field is ditzy Doris Miller. She’s a hoarder who never moved out of the home of her hoarder late parents.

Doris takes the ferry into the city each day and works in a cubicle at a marketing firm. Then Max Greenfield’s John Freemont joins the company, and Doris’ world is turned upside down.

Greenfield is half her age, but she’s the man of Doris’ dreams. And those dreams include daydreams where Doris’ vivid imagination runs wild and provides plenty of laughs for her co-workers and the audience.

Things really heat up when her best friend’s daughter shows Doris how to friend Freemont on Facebook. She writes him steamy messages and piques his interest.

Field has a field day as Doris. It’s a meaty part. Doris is multidimensional and complex, and it gives Field a chance to show off her considerable comedy chops as well as her dramatic skill.

The dialogue is fast and funny. Doris weaves a tangled web, and one that leads to a chance for some really good actors to shine. The friendship and fantasies with Greenfield are fun, and sometimes profound. However, the best bits come from Field and Tyne Daly (Judging Amy), who plays her best friend Roz. She loves her friend, but thinks she’s fallen off the end of the pier.

And — in reality — Doris has.

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘Hello, My Name is Doris’ one of the year’s funniest movies."