Irish Wish: Review
By Sioph Leal
Book editor Maddie Kelly (Lindsay Lohan) has a great working relationship with writer Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos), and the two are a success after they launched his new book. Unknown to Paul, Maddie is in love with him and is set to reveal her feelings when he falls for her best friend Emma Taylor (Elizabeth Tan). Pushing her feelings aside, Maddie joins them in Ireland for their wedding, where she wishes for a different reality, one in which she is the one who gets to marry Paul. During this alternate reality, Maddie realises that her real soul mate could be someone entirely different.
Romantic comedies are well suited to Lindsay Lohan’s acting capabilities, but Irish Wish felt like it was missing a few key elements. While it did have the signature comedic meet-cute between Maddie and photographer James Thomas (Ed Speelers) and a troublesome situation that they find themselves in, that’s pretty much it from the romantic leads. Maddie and James don’t spend any quality time together within the movie aside from twenty-four hours (movie time), which feels very rushed and doesn’t give viewers enough time to see these two together.
Irish Wish was a chance to reignite Lohan’s romantic saga era, and while the overall plot had potential, somewhere between the writing and directing, the story fell flat. In part, the pacing of Irish Wish was off, with too much time spent with Maddie’s mother, Rosemary Kelly (Jane Seymour), who served no purpose to the film other than the odd phone call to her daughter, encouraging her to speak up for herself, which could have easily been done by Maddie’s friends Elizabeht or Heather (Ayesha Curry). The supporting cast felt none-existent, only there to fill a scene, something that extras could have done and would have had the same effect. The friendships between the three women feel surface level, almost superficial. Aside from Maddie and Heather, who seem to have some sort of hint at a work relationship, Maddie’s relationships with everyone all seem inconsequential to her and her story.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Irish Wish is Maddie and Elizabeth’s friendship. While both apparently are in love with Paul, the two seem content with flirting or vying for his affections despite him being engaged to another woman. Irish Wish could have been so much more than two women falling for the same man, but until the end of the movie, it’s almost as if Maddie’s alternative life is in competition with Elizabeth’s reality.
While Irish Wish lacks a lot of comedic warmth, it’s not completely without anything good. James offers viewers the comedic levity that Speleers naturally brings to the role. James, by Maddie’s own description, is cheeky, but he also brings the best out of Maddie without changing who she is or wants to be as a person.
Irish Wish had plenty of opportunities to bring back the levity of romantic comedies, but unfortunately, it didn’t achieve this. Maddie’s self-doubt and making herself smaller for a romantic interest while having the actual romantic leads barely spend any time together make Irish Wish feel cold and distant when compared to the other movies of the genre.
Irish Wish premiers on Netflix March 15th 2024.