Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
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Mrs. Doubtfire Movie Review
Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 family comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and starring Robin Williams and Sally Field. It is a flawed, but charming film.
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“Broke my bag, the bastard. Ooh!“
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This is surely one of my childhood favorites as I have watched it on TV as a kid multiple times. As an adult, it is nowhere near as magical and some ugly flaws are revealed to me now, but it still holds up pretty well and is a good film overall.
All of these drag comedy films such as this one and ‘Tootsie’ are pretty dated in today’s society where trans women and drag queens are getting more and more recognition and respect. And surely enough, there are some scenes here that are awfully uncomfortable, dated and transphobic with the urination exposition scene being the most obvious offender.
Still this film is so charming, wonderful and endearing that you can’t help but enjoy it tremendously. It did not need to last for two hours, but it is so entertaining and wonderfully childlike that it mostly flies by and I’ve had such a great time watching it. The overall story promotes fatherhood in a great, meaningful manner and I honestly loved that the two did not stay together, but found a way for both to have a lot of time with the kids. That was great.
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Robin Williams’ humor is pretty dated in my opinion as it is overly theatrical. And this movie is never truly hilarious and although funny at times, it should have been much funnier having in mind it’s a comedy. But still it is amusing and his character here is amazing and really well developed and imagined. He definitely gave one of his stronger performances here.
Sally Field is also great and reliably fantastic in the wife’s role. I loved the relationship between the two and to me the film succeeded in realistically portraying a marriage that is ending. The kids are fine, but should have been more memorable. And Pierce Brosnan is very well cast as this potential love interest for Miranda and he did a good job in the role.
Mrs. Doubtfire is the best in the scenes with the character being in the house with the children and talking with the wife. I wish it had more such scenes. The restaurant scene is very typical in its situational comedy, but still very well done. I also really liked the animation scene at the beginning.
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The movie is very well made and superbly acted and also directed by Chris Columbus who was a perfect choice for this family flick. It is long, but entertaining and mostly solidly paced. Of course the make-up is amazing and deservedly won an Oscar. I definitely thought that the film was overly sentimental at times, but still undeniably sweet and moving in those scenes. Overall, it isn’t quite as good as when I saw it as a kid, but it still holds up well.
Mrs. Doubtfire is a childhood favorite that is overly dated in some of its humor and sometimes excessively sentimental, but still it holds up pretty well thanks to Robin Williams’ very strong performance in a highly memorable role, some charming and funny scenes and a great ending. It is a very flawed, but undeniably sweet and pleasant family flick.
