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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Wendy Ide

Irish Wish review – no cliche is left unturned in lamentable Lindsay Lohan romcom

Lindsay Lohan, centre, with Ed Speleers, Elizabeth Tan, Ayesha Curry and Alexander Vlahos in Irish Wish.
Craic on… Lindsay Lohan, centre, with Ed Speleers, Elizabeth Tan, Ayesha Curry and Alexander Vlahos in Irish Wish. Photograph: Netflix

There are no leprechauns in this abysmal romantic comedy. Otherwise, though, pretty much no theme-park Ireland cliche is left unturned in a Lindsay Lohan vehicle, directed by Janeen Damian, that reimagines Irish Catholicism as a twinkly, impish delivery system for magical realist plot devices.

Lohan plays Maddie, a book editor who is devastated when her secret crush, dashing author Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos), gets engaged to her best friend, Emma (Elizabeth Tan). Invited to be a bridesmaid at the wedding at the Kennedy stately home somewhere in Ireland, Maddie wishes that she, not Emma, was the lucky bride-to-be. And Saint Brigid, patron saint of headscarves and romantic meddling, overhears. Of course, wishes have a way of backfiring, and amid all the spontaneous outbreaks of Irish dancing and Guinness drinking, Maddie realises that her heart lies elsewhere.

On Netflix

Watch a trailer for Irish Wish.
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