Lindsay Lohan’s return to mainstream movies with Netflix’s Irish Wish , featuring Ed Speleers has much less to offer.

Summary :

1. Lindsay Lohan plays a lovelorn book editor in “Irish Wish” on Netflix.
2. The film is a traditional romantic comedy set in Ireland with stunning surroundings.
3. Lohan’s recent Netflix romcoms have gotten mixed reviews.
4. Lohan has humorous timing, but chemistry with the male protagonists is lacking.
5. “Irish Wish” stumbles with its premise and fails to offer expected romance, making film a difficult watch despite Lohan’s appearance.

Irish Wish, directed by Janeen Damian and starring Lindsay Lohan as a lovelorn book editor who receives one fateful wish during a trip to Ireland, is exactly what you’d expect: a light dream-fulfillment fantasy set against a sigh-inducing landscape of dramatic cliffs and tranquil, emerald-tone rolling hills. There’s also an old-school family estate home, the kind of million-room mansion that seems so spotless and lovely in movies but is nearly hard to keep light, warm, and dry in real life. These familiar components aren’t disadvantages, but rather selling points, particularly in the arena of Netflix romances, which Irish Wish unabashedly is.

But the film’s main lure, for both good and bad reasons, is most likely Lindsay Lohan, who has just recast herself as a romantic-comedy heroine.
So why not? As a youngster and young adult, Lohan was one of her generation’s most talented actors, a charmer with impeccable timing in films such as The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday. A bit later, as awkward-teen-turned-hotshot Cady Heron in the original Mean Girls, she enthralled not only teenage viewers, but pretty much everybody who had ever attended high school.

It was practically difficult to dislike  Lohan as a performer, which may have seemed like a big deal for the celebrity a few years ago, when she was still trying to get out of Hollywood jail. A combination of bad film choices, bad life decisions, and bad behavior turned her into an uninsurable pariah, even though she was also a victim of an industry that made it nearly impossible for her to survive her adolescence. But 2022 gave her a second chance, owing to Netflix’s nostalgia desire for the cheesy seasonal romcom Falling for Christmas.

It was as throwaway as the streamer’s several other seasonal offerings, but it was a big victory for Lohan, who played her first lead in over a decade and was allegedly the most watched new Christmas movie that year.
It should have been enough to move her away from the rubbish she would have rejected in her peak, but she’s back for a second shot in Irish Wish, a picture that’s even blander and more dull than the last. The anonymity of her last Netflix romcom was probably more tolerable because of the season, when a large number of usually unacceptable bad films are given a light pass due to the festive atmosphere.

It was as throwaway as the streamer’s several other seasonal offerings, but it was a big victory for Lohan, who played her first lead in over a decade and was allegedly the most watched new Christmas movie that year.
It should have been enough to move her away from the rubbish she would have rejected in her peak, but she’s back for a second shot in Irish Wish, a picture that’s even blander and more dull than the last. The anonymity of her last Netflix romcom was probably more tolerable because of the season, when a large number of usually unacceptable bad films are given a light pass due to the festive atmosphere.

In a tinny, red-flags-burning-everywhere kind of opener, we learn that she is a) adorkably clumsy, b) living in a cheap approximation of New York, c) the daughter of Jane Seymour’s school principal who lives in Ohio, d) honest about her feelings to her mother but strangely not to her friends, and e) just introducing her friends to the author. This then allows for a 27 Dresses-style disaster in which a buddy falls for him instead, and the film cuts to Lohan traveling to Ireland for the wedding. She encounters an attractive Englishman (Ed Speleers) along the journey, whom she despises for no apparent reason, before making a wish on an ancient stone to become the true bride, which is granted by a mystical Irish woman.

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Plot

Irish Wish, which coincides beautifully with St. Patrick’s Day, has a little similarities to Julia Roberts’ classic rom-com. My best friend’s wedding, however things have changed a bit. Maddie Kelly ends up in Ireland as a dutiful bridesmaid for her best friend Emma (Elizabeth Tan), all while yearning to marry the groom, Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos), the author she works with. Being in a foreign nation, the American bridesmaid makes a naive wish for true love and finds herself in Emma’s shoes.
Of course, this would not be a plain story without some drama. Maddie has a connection with another suitor, photographer James (Ed Speelers).

While the Netflix rom-com adheres to the genre’s conventional cliches, unlike other Hallmark romances to which it might be compared, the stunning Irish setting is unquestionably a plus.

Writing and Direction

Kirsten Hansen’s screenplay and Janeen Damian’s direction both felt unoriginal. In reality, the prose is overly clichéd and uninteresting. The protagonist is forced to endure cringe-worthy sequences of ridiculous misfortunes that are intended to embarrass Maddie. She is also shown expressing a wish to Saint Brigid (Dawn Bradfield), who later haunts her actions like a ghost. It’s simply strange. Damian also loses emphasis on the romance part of the plot, as everything appears rushed and disconnected as the film nears its conclusion.

Irish Wish: Performances

As a teenager, Lohan appeared in a number of Hollywood films, some of which were successful (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday), while others were not. The actress has made a comeback on Netflix with seven low-budget rom-coms, starting with the 2002 film Falling for Christmas. With Irish Wish, she has suffered another setback. Lohan is the only cast member with comedic timing. She still has star attraction; I only wish she had better material to work with. James Speelers of Speelers is the only other cast member making an attempt; the rest, including veteran Jane Seymour, appear to be phoning it in.

Irish Wish: Verdict

The storyline lacks plausibility, despite the fact that the fantasy element serves as a major drive. Furthermore, Lohan has little chemistry with the male characters, which deflates the film’s promise of romance. However, if you’re a Lindsay fan, the actress adds a joyful tone to Irish Wish.
We’re looking at an actor reaching middle age playing a role who is perhaps a little younger but still unclear whether she can ever find love. I’m not sure how she does it, but Lohan makes us believe Maddie is a bookworm who adores James Joyce but won’t admit it because it’s private and precious information, a secret worth sharing only with potentially likeminded folks.

As Maddie, Lohan has evidence of that eager, teenage wistfulness, but it is tempered by something more serious, an acceptance that things rarely go as planned or hoped. It’s almost as if Lohan is trying to regain lost years, when she could have played this type of character as a younger woman. She portrays Maddie as someone for whom you wish the best. And sometimes a romantic-comedy heroine might be just that.

Grab a cold drink if you decide to put this on; you’ll definitely need it! The show premiered on Netflix on March 15 for streaming.

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