Hello, My Name is Doris

Sally Field outclasses some pretty waxy and unfocused material in Hello, My Name is Doris, playing a shy office slave who develops an overwhelming crush on her much younger co-worker. Following the death of her fellow hoarder mother, Fields’ meek Doris Miller comes under pressure to evacuate the family home and part with her stacks of junk. Instead, she focuses all of her attention on new employee John Fremont (Max Greenfield), creating a fake Facebook account to stalk him, and using the information she finds to insinuate herself into his life. Adapting a short film from co-screenwriter Laura Terruso, writer-director Michael Showalter turns potentially dark and thorny material into something polite and blandly therapeutic. We’re expected to simultaneously root for Doris to reject and seek help, all the while chuckling at moth-worn Williamsburg hipster stereotypes. Only a meekly towering performance from Field keeps the film centered during its many digressions. D.B.