MRS. DOUBTFIRE
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1993 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein. Screenplay: Randi Mayem Singer & Leslie Dixon. Director: Chris Columbus.
I've never been a member of the Robin Williams fan club. A little bit of his improvisationaly schtick goes a long way, and I sometimes feel as though I'm watching a 40-year-old class clown. In his films, Williams has often tried to balance his mania with touchy-feely emotion, leading to wildly uneven performances. MRS. DOUBTFIRE seemed ready-made for the same problems, but instead it proves to be Williams' best comic screen project yet. While it still contains some characteristic self-indulgence, MRS. DOUBTFIRE is nonetheless an engaging belly-laugh comedy served up with high energy.
Williams stars as Daniel Hillard, a cartoon voiceover artist with a penchant for irresponsible behavior. One such incident proves one too many for wife Miranda (Sally Field), and she files for a divorce. Unemployed, living in a disastrously unkempt apartment and faced with limited time with his three beloved children, Daniel decides to respond to Miranda's ad for an afternoon housekeeper. He turns to his brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein), a theatrical makeup artist, and emerges as Euphegenia Doubtfire, a matronly 65-year-old Englishwoman. Daniel uses his access to the house to keep an eye on Miranda's flirtation with a wealthy client (Pierce Brosnan), to spend time with the children, and to learn something about responsible parenting, all the while trying to keep his identity hidden from the people who know him best.
MRS. DOUBTFIRE has to overcome a mountain of implausibilities to work, and basically it does so. The most crucial is that no one in the family recognizes Daniel, and thanks to the fantastic special makeup that's instantly believable. It may be one of the most convincing transformations ever committed to film, making Dustin Hoffman's Dorothy Michaels look like Milton Berle. More problematic was a series of calls Daniel makes to Miranda posing as nannies from hell; it's a bit hard to swallow that she doesn't recognize any of the voices as her husband's. Perhaps the biggest contrivance we're asked to swallow is that Daniel could make a quick change into Mrs. Doubtfire in a few minutes. There's more to realistic makeup than slapping on a latex mask. Fortunately, these are inconsistencies which only attract attention as the credits roll. During the film, I was generally too busy laughing. After getting off to a slow start involving too much of Williams' riffing, MRS. DOUBTFIRE kicks into high gear once the wig and pads are in place. Daniel's frantic attempt to fool a court officer is wonderful, as is the climactic restaurant sequence, even though I saw the resolutions coming a mile away.
Clearly, most of the credit for DOUBTFIRE's success goes to Robin Williams. It took putting him in drag, but for once he plays a comic character that isn't just Robin Williams with a different name. He thoroughly inhabits Euphegenia Doubtfire, and seems to relish the scenes in which he gets to play her as blunt and foul-mouthed. Wisely, he never aims for saintly. His responses to the intrusion of new suitor Stu are often petty, but the kind of thing most of us might do with the benefit of anonymity. It's one of MRS. DOUBTFIRE's charms that neither Daniel nor Miranda is perfect, just people trying to be better. As Miranda, Sally Field is solid in a background role, and Pierce Brosnan is nicely understated as Stu. The children are also good, although Mara Wilson is almost oppressively cute as the youngest. The supporting players merely step aside and allow Williams to do his thing.
It's easy to see MRS. DOUBTFIRE as little more than TOOTSIE warmed over, and it's true that there are both broad themes and specific details in common. But MRS. DOUBTFIRE manages to carve out its own space, particularly through the surprisingly honest moments involving a judge's decision and the ultimate status of Daniel and Miranda's relationship. There's nothing dazzlingly new in MRS. DOUBTFIRE, but there are plenty of laughs, and good comedies are always in short supply. And it's nice to see Robin Williams just act for a change.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 pounds of latex: 7.
-- Scott Renshaw Stanford University Office of the General Counsel
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