Irish Wish Movie Review: Gorgeous Locales Are Only Saving Grace In Lindsay Lohan’s Banal Rom-Com
About Irish Wish
Lindsay Lohan‘s newest rom-com features the former child star as a book editor who travels to Ireland for her best friend’s wedding and ends up being the bride herself. With a simple wish, Lohan’s Maddie turns her world upside down. But it is everything she hoped for? Directed by Janeen Damian, the low stakes feature Irish Wish, premiering on Netflix on March 15, also adds in a slight love quadrangle to spice things up.
Irish Wish: Plot
Irish Wish, which lines up nicely with St Patrick’s Day, bears a little similarity to Julia Roberts’s classic rom-com My Best Friend’s Wedding, but has things switched up a bit. Maddie Kelly lands up in Ireland as a dutiful bridesmaid for her best friend Emma (Elizabeth Tan) all while hoping she could marry the groom Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos), the author she works with. Being in a foreign country, the American bridesmaid makes an innocent wish about true love and suddenly she is in Emma’s shoes.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a straightforward story if there wasn’t any drama thrown in. There’s another suitor, photographer James (Ed Speelers) that Maddie finds herself relating to. While the Netflix rom-com sticks to the standard tropes of the genre, but unlike other Hallmark romances to which it could be compared, the beautiful Irish setting certainly is a bonus.
Irish Wish: Writing and Direction
The screenplay by Kirsten Hansen and the direction by Janeen Damian both offer nothing new. In fact, the writing is quite clichéd and dull. The protagonist is made to suffer through cringe-worthy sequences of silly misadventures which are designed to embarrass Maddie. She is also shown making her wish to Saint Brigid (Dawn Bradfield), who then haunts her activities like a ghost. It’s just bizarre. Damian also loses focus on the romance aspect of the story as everything just feels rushed and disjointed as the film moves towards the finale.
Irish Wish: Performances
As a teenager, Lohan starred in a string of Hollywood features, some successful (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday), some not (Just My Luck). The actress has had a bit of a comeback on Netflix with these lower budget rom-coms beginning with the 2002 film Falling for Christmas. With Irish Wish, she’s taken another setback. Lohan is the only one with comedic timing in the cast. She still has that star appeal; I just wish she was given better material to work with. Speelers’s James is the other cast member trying to put in some effort; the rest of them including veteran Jane Seymour seem to be phoning their performances in.
Irish Wish: Critique
Irish Wish doesn’t have any believability in the script, even with the fantasy element that plays a big catalyst. Furthermore, Lohan has little chemistry with the male leads, fizzling out on the romance promised from the film. But if you’re a Lindsay fan, the actress brings a cheerful attitude to Irish Wish. Grab yourself a cold beer if you decide to put this on, you’re certainly going to need it!
End of Article