What is it with bad romantic comedies produced in America and Ireland? The Emerald Isle has recently been the target of hate crimes from movies like P.S. Leap Year, in which a character cynically remarks, “Top o’ the morning! “; I Love You, in which Gerard Butler plays a ghost with an awful accentand Wild Mountain Thyme, in which the guy played by Jamie Dornan believes he is a bee. (The National Leprechaun Museum was prompted to remark on the final one, saying, “Even we think this is a bit much.”)
Let’s get Irish Wish started. It is full of tired clichés, just like its Irish-romcom predecessors: opening shots of undulating fields, folk music dominated by fiddles, a fantasy character akin to a leprechaun, some live-laugh-love-esque fetishization of Guinness, and a variety of tongue-twisting accents (the main Irish character here is actually played by a Welshman).
However, the film’s Ireland location seems almost accidental, even marginal. Irish Wish is first and foremost a film about Lindsay Lohan; with it and Falling For Christmas, a holiday comedy about skiing amnesia that opens in 2022, the actor is redefining herself as a Lifetime Movie-style rom-com star, a second or third windfall for those who grew up on Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap and would like more of the same. It appears to be channeling the silly, family-friendly tone and fantastical wish-fulfillment logic of previous movies. (Maddie’s declaration, “I’m marrying Paul Kennedy!” is the movie’s parody of Home Alone’s “I made my family disappear!” She says it first in disbelief and then with joy.)
This movie aims to establish Lohan as the new grand matriarch of this genre, and it succeeds in that modest endeavor. Never mind that the direction is glossier than lip lacquer and cheesier than Stinking Bishop; that the attempts at humor will make you roll your eyes and retreat to the back of your skull (there’s at least one instance of the phrase “Cheque, please!”); or that the cultural sensitivity to its host country is about on par with Las Vegas.
To be honest, Irish Wish is not a good movie.
Here, Lohan is the main focus. With her late thirties, bad love luck, and neglected work, Maddie is portrayed as a queen who is relevant to everyone. You can tell she enjoys reading because she wears glasses. She mentions James Joyce once, which is a sign that it is one of her favorite authors. (That specific sequence is a near-perfect replica of the “You like fiction books?” scene from the romantic comedy They Came Together.)
A grotesquely mischievous apparition of St. Brigid of Kildare visits Maddie, who is devastated by her unfulfilled love for her client and colleague Paul (Alexander Vlahos), and granted her desire. Maddie wants to be the bride right away, without even thinking twice about asking a follow-up question or taking into account less self-serving requirements (oh well, world peace, maybe next time!).
Unbelievably, though, she begins to realize that perhaps she is falling for dashing photographer James, played by Englishman Ed Speleers, at the very moment when her fantasy comes true. (Ironically, the choice to make her love interest English suggests that the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649 never ended; it just took a different form.) The two fall in love over a pint of the black stuff, an Irish jig in the style of the Titanic, and some mansplaining over darts after visiting a vaguely resemblance of a pub.
Naturally, you can simply imagine what will happen next. In fact, the whole purpose of this kind of film is its complete lack of surprise; it’s purposefully created to be seen as a fleece throw on the couch while sipping hot cocoa or in the background while ironing. To be honest, Irish Wish is not a good movie. It just cannot be endorsed from a basic filmmaking standpoint. However, if you follow the conditions set forth, you don’t meddle with the Lohans.