dir. Janeen Damian
It’s a good start when, in a film called Irish Wish, neither the protagonist nor her two love interests is Irish. Lindsay Lohan plays Maddie, a book editor secretly in love with Paul (Alexander Vlahos), her bestselling author. But it seems Paul only has eyes for Maddie’s best friend. In Ireland for their wedding, Maddie goes for a wander to a non-descript but apparently magic stone, where the spirit of St Brigid appears wearing a sort of salwar kameez, and grants her her wish that she be marrying Paul instead. So far, so normal! But one of Irish Wish‘s great problems is that its key characters, including wildlife photographer James (Ed Speleers) as Maddie’s other love interest, are so bereft of personality that it’s hard to be invested in anything they do. Clunky dialogue (like Maddie fawning over the “dramatic vistas”), head-scratchingly hideous outfits, and mad aspects such as Maddie’s mother being stuck in Des Moines because clearly Jane Seymour didn’t have time to travel to the real set, are rare moments of interest. Otherwise, the characters and set-up are so tired that there’s very little to remember. Rather than wishing for a different life, Maddie should’ve wished Irish Wish had a different script.
BMDb 