Lindsay Lohan’s big comeback continues with the Netflix fantasy rom-com Irish Wish, which gives an interesting twist to a popular rom-com released almost three decades ago. Although Lindsay Lohan hasn’t been inactive since being one of the biggest teen idols of the 2000s, she hasn’t starred in any big or commercial projects since her lead role in the rom-com Just My Luck, in 2006. In 2021, Lohan made her big return to acting when she was cast in the lead role of Netflix’s Christmas romantic comedy Falling For Christmas, where she starred alongside Chord Overstreet.
Despite getting mixed reviews, critics praised Lohan’s return and on-screen presence, and in 2022, Lohan signed a two-picture deal with Netflix to star in two more films. Lohan’s upcoming film projects set to be released on Netflix are Irish Wish and Our Little Secret, the latter currently in production and scheduled for a release in 2024, most likely in December as it’s a Christmas movie. Irish Wish, then, is the next in line, and it’s a rom-com where Lohan plays Maddie Kelly, who travels to Ireland for the wedding of her best friend to the love of her life – and with this, Irish Wish is giving a twist to a beloved 1990s rom-com.
Netflix’s Irish Wish Is My Best Friend’s Wedding With A Twist
Irish Wish has a very similar premise to My Best Friend’s Wedding.
My Best Friend’s Wedding
- Director
- P. J. Hogan
- Release Date
- June 20, 1997
- Cast
- Julia Roberts , Dermot Mulroney , Cameron Diaz , Rupert Everett , Philip Bosco , M. Emmet Walsh
Irish Wish has a similar premise to P.J. Hogan’s 1997 rom-com classic My Best Friend’s Wedding, but with an interesting twist. Irish Wish sees Lohan’s Maddie traveling to Ireland to be a bridesmaid at her best friend’s, Emma (Elizabeth Tan), wedding, but as Emma is marrying the love of Maddie’s life, Paul (Alexander Vlahos), Maddie struggles to put her feelings aside. A couple of days before the wedding, Maddie makes a wish in which she wants to be the one marrying Paul and wakes up the next day as the bride-to-be.
In My Best Friend’s Wedding, viewers meet Jules Potter (Julia Roberts), a Chicago sportswriter who learns that her lifelong friend, Michael O’Neal (Dermot Mulroney), is getting married. Jules immediately realizes that she’s in love with Michael, and so she does her best to try to prevent his wedding. To her surprise, Michael’s bride, Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), is a college student eight years his junior, and she’s very nice and kind to Jules, even asking her to be her maid of honor due to her friendship with Michael.
Just like My Best Friend’s Wedding, Irish Wish deals with a protagonist who can’t let her best friend’s wedding happen and feels she must confess her feelings, but the context is different. Maddie’s love of her life is not her best friend, as was Jules’ case, but her best friend is the one marrying the man she loves. In addition to that, the trailer for Irish Wish doesn’t show Maddie actively sabotaging the wedding, but her wish is as big as any of Jules’ attempts to prevent the wedding.
Irish Wish Also Takes Elements From 13 Going On 30
Irish Wish has one key similarity to 13 Going On 30.
13 Going on 30
- Director
- Gary Winick
- Release Date
- April 13, 2004
- Cast
- Jennifer Garner , Mark Ruffalo , Judy Greer , Andy Serkis , Kathy Baker , Phil Reeves
Irish Wish also has one element that’s very similar to Gary Winick’s 2004 fantasy rom-com 13 Going On 30, starring Jennifer Garner as Jenna Rink. In it, 13-year-old Jenna, after a humiliating moment at her birthday party, tearfully wishes to be “30 and flirty and thriving” as wishing dust sprinkles on her. The next morning, Jenna wakes up as a 30-year-old in her luxurious apartment in New York City, and so has to adapt to adult life while still being a 13-year-old on the inside. However, Jenna soon learns that she pushed her loved ones away over the years and starts to regret her wish.
Irish Wish borrows from 13 Going On 30 with Maddie’s wish, which isn’t done by wishing dust but by Irish magic that Maddie was probably unaware of. Maddie’s wish starts great as she gets what she wants, just like Jenna does, but the more she lives in this new reality, the more she realizes that what she wished for isn’t making her happy, which is what also happens to Jenna.
How Irish Wish Can Succeed Where My Best Friend’s Wedding Failed
Lindsay Lohan’s character can learn what Julia Robert’s character didn’t.
Although My Best Friend’s Wedding is one of the most popular rom-coms from the 1990s, it hasn’t been safe from criticism. Jules’ actions throughout the movie are questionable, and she isn’t exactly a lead character to root for, and even though she eventually gives up and lets Michael and Kimmy get married, it’s hard to believe that Jules learned her lesson and that everything she did was wrong. Maddie, on the other hand, is more likely to truly understand why she was wrong in Irish Wish than Jules in My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Maddie gets to live her wish and realizes it’s not for her, especially after she meets James (Ed Speleers), with whom she has undeniable chemistry. Maddie has a better understanding of why her wish isn’t for her than Jules and is a lot more likely to fully let go of her feelings for Paul and genuinely be happy about his and Emma’s wedding than Jules in My Best Friend’s Wedding, who feels like she only moved on because she had no other option left.
