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Sally Field's 'Doris' is Quite Lovable

You might be afraid a story about a seventy-year-old woman who develops yearning eyes toward a young man of maybe thirty would inevitable be either romantically sentimental or cynically satiric, but Hello, My Name is Doris is neither one; it's serious but somehow cheerful made by people who like people and think life is worthwhile despite the ways people act occasionally.

Sally Field's Doris has been deprived of a normal emotional life by having to care for her invalid mother, but Mother is gone now and Doris wants, perhaps unconsciously, to make up for lost time, but has forgotten anything she ever knew about how to do it.

She accepts as her advisor the thirteen-year-old daughter of her best friend Tyne Daly; the daughter is the only one young and romantic enough to take Field's project seriously, but she doesn't know much other than what she has observed at school and gotten out of movies and romance novels, and she and Field make for some real hilarity, especially as to costuming for the youth culture.

But silly as she may look, Field is accepted by everybody in the bizarre youth world and, for that matter, everywhere else. She's just plain a loveable character, and has a zest for life that's impossible to resist. So you won't be too worried about her even though Hello, My Name is Doris is too realistic for you to hope for a romantic ending. In a world where everybody is nice, you relax and enjoy the comedy.

And you will; I'm sure of that.