The rom-com Irish Wish was released on Netflix on March 15. Following author and editor Maddie Kelly (played by Lindsay Lohan) as she wishes for the man she wrote a book with, Paul (played by Alexander Vlahos), to fall in love with and marry her.
Unfortunately for Maddie, Paul ends up meeting her childhood best friend, Emma (played by Elizabeth Tan) and they fall in love and eventually get married.
Emma and Paul’s wedding takes place in Ireland, which is where the duration of the movie happens. In Ireland, Maddie comes across a mysterious bench where she wishes that Paul would marry her. Saint Brigid eventually appears and grants Maddie’s wish.
The next morning, Maddie wakes up and learns that her wish has come true and her wedding is only days away. Through humorous moments like seeing Paul naked in the shower and attacking him in bed one night, Maddie starts to learn that maybe Paul isn’t the one for her.
Maddie’s other major love interest is a photographer, James (played by Ed Speleers), who she has a very awkward first encounter with.
In the alternate world following Maddie’s wish, Paul’s mom hires James to be the photographer for the upcoming wedding, which allows Maddie and James to become closer.
CHARACTERS
Most of the characters had a place in the plot, which was nice compared to a movie where characters get lost. Along with that, there was a good amount of characters that allowed for variation of who you were watching on the screen, but not too many that you would forget the names of everyone.
For the main leads, two out of the three of them made sense casting wise. Vlahos did a good job of portraying Paul’s arrogance in a realistic way and Speelers was a fabulous casting choice for James, but Lohan was an interesting choice.
Maybe because the only time I’ve seen Lohan on the screen was in Mean Girls. She did a good job playing Maddie, but there were times where I thought her acting was a little bland. She could’ve played Maddie with more emotion at some points. The only time I really bought it was when she was crying after James had left her in the alternate world and she didn’t know where to go next.
However, Speeler had the perfect amount of charm and his acting felt very natural. James ended up being my favorite character in the film as he pushed Maddie to advocate for herself and supported her decisions.
While the other roles were smaller and contributed less to the plot, the casting decisions fit for the most part.
CAMERA ANGLES AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
The only major special effect in the movie was when Maddie made her wish on the bench, and bunches of pink flowers swirled around her through the air. I thought that was a nice special effect and made it extra clear to the audience that something big was about to happen.
The biggest camera angle that added to the movie was when Maddie and James were together for the first time in the alternate world, and were looking for a place to take wedding pictures. When they went to The Cliffs of Moher, the camera angles would occasionally zoom out so the audience could get the same scenic view that Maddie and James did, which was nice.
PLOT
The plot was somewhat clever, but the overall meaning behind it felt unoriginal. The movie was basically rooted under the entire idea of ‘be careful what you wish for,’ since Maddie ended up regretting her wish.
But the movie did teach the importance of loving someone for who they truly are, rather than loving the idea of them or being with them, which is a message a lot of people can probably resonate with.
My favorite scene took place when Maddie and James got stuck in a storm, and had to find somewhere to stay since a tree fell down in the middle of the road. James took Maddie to his favorite pub and taught her how to shoot a dart. After that, they danced together, and I thought that was a really impactful moment.
Overall, I would rate this movie three out of five stars. The actors portrayed their characters well for the most part, but the storyline itself was uninteresting at times.
