Irish Wish is full of terrible rom-com tropes, but I still want Lindsay Lohan to find happiness
As a huge fan of romantic comedies, both in film and book form, I have a shortlist of beloved tropes. Enemies of lovers? Sun and grumpy? Second chances after a missed connection? Love love, Love.
But I also have a shortlist of my most hated clichés. I know it’s my thing, but I just don’t like a workplace romance where one party clearly works directly under the other. I also don’t like romances that start with one party dating someone else. Or romances in which someone pines for their best friend’s partner. And I absolutely hate rom-coms where we have to buy the power of a couple based on some sort of alternate reality-slash-dream situation where literally everything else in their lives is different, and only one person remembers the details. When the tropics Are the premise is that there is often no hope that I will persevere.
Netflix’s new vaguely romantic comedy with a St. Patrick’s Day theme, Irish wish, is actually built on a whole bed of rom-com tropes that I actively hate. So even though I love a Lindsay Lohan-led romcom – Just my luck was one of my favorites growing up, and Lohan’s recent Netflix Christmas rom-com was overly cheesy in the best way — I knew the odds of enjoyment were in my favor. But there Are exceptions to all my rules of taste, if the movie is good enough. I came in with hope! But while I’m not immune to the fact that Lindsay Lohan is charmed by a roguish Englishman being played Ed Speleers (Star Trek: Picard, Eragon), the rest of Irish wish failed to dissuade me.
(Ed. remark: This piece contains some spoilers for Irish wish.)
Photo: Patrick Redmond/Netflix
Hated trope crime #1: Lohan’s Irish wish character, Maddie, is an editor who is hopelessly and unrequitedly in love with one of her writers, a charming Irishman named Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos). But because Maddie doesn’t have enough guts to confess her love to him, Paul meets her adorable girlfriend Emma (Elizabeth Tan) and the two get engaged instead, with Maddie still hopeful for him. (Second point, *insert eye-roll emoji*!) On the eve of their wedding in Ireland, Maddie meets a strange giggling woman who encourages her to make a big wish, so Maddie then wishes she was the one who got married to Paul . . She wakes up in a different reality, a reality where she is the one getting married. But it turns out Paul isn’t the partner she thought he would be. And Also she keeps encountering a scruffy but dashing photographer named James (Ed Speleers) and shares very romantic moments with him. If you count, those are points three and four.
Luckily, Lohan and Speleers have mastered the art of making charged eye contact in a room; their chemistry gives their characters more desire than the text suggests. Since most of the romantic moments take place in the “wish universe” (what I’ll call the reality where Maddie marries Paul), it’s already hard to believe that they would get together in real life since everything about their meeting and relationship is there already different. Still, the wish universe offers them some adorable moments: getting caught in a rainstorm while scouting locations for wedding photos and then cozying up in a quaint little cafe. While sparks certainly fly, it’s still only one full day of knowing each other, which is hardly enough to justify those anxious looks of longing.
Yet! Those are those looks So Good. Their individual moments together are delightful, especially against the backdrop of the beautiful Irish landscape and some cute little set pieces. But it’s not enough to deny that their relationship is based in an alternate reality. So when they meet for realsies, Maddie just knows all these things about James that makes it seem like she’s stalking him, while he barely has any idea who she is. Maybe there is an attraction, but it’s hard to believe it’s true love.
Maddie’s crush on Paul, despite him being a horrible person to work with and generally a spoiled man, is also frustrating. Yes, the plot of the movie depends on her realizing they don’t work well together, but it’s a wonder what she even saw in him originally! There’s an unnecessary side plot involving Maddie’s mother trying to get a plane out of Des Moines. I don’t know why it’s there other than to put Jane Seymour on the cast list. She never even has a face-to-face conversation with her daughter!
Some tropes may not be for me, but other people love them, especially when it comes to romantic comedies. But there are films that overcome my preconceived dislikes and make me reevaluate why I hated certain tropes. The proposal, For example, it sidesteps my usual disdain for the cliché of “workplace romance where one party is clearly working for the other” by simply being a solid movie. Despite the beautiful chemistry between Speleers and Lohan, Irish wish didn’t upset my preconceived notions – if anything it’s the worst version of my hated tropes. Speleers and Lohan deserve a movie worthy of their electric eye contact and charming banter – and who knows? James and Maddie’s romance is just beginning in this film, so there could be more to come. Irish wish may have played on my least favorite clichés, but I am invested in these characters.
Irish wish is now on Netflix.