MRS. DOUBTFIRE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1993 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This is an electric blanket of a movie.
It is thin but it is reliable and can be warm when it has to
be. Robin Williams plays a divorced man who wants to be with
his children and is willing to cross-dress to secretly become
the family nanny. There are funny moments and warm moments,
but few thoughtful, intelligent, or perceptive moments.
Rating: +1 (-4 to +4)
Robin Williams plays Daniel Hillard, who is a bit like a big child. He tempermentally walks off of a job providing voices for cartoon characters over a principle. (This reminds one of TOOTSIE, and it certainly will not be the last such reminder.) To cheer himself up he throws a lavish birthday party for his son which backfires involving both police and his wife Miranda (Sally Field). This is the last straw and Miranda files divorce proceedings that severely limit Daniel's right to see his own children. To appease his need for work as well as his emotional need to see his children Daniel has his brother, a gay makeup artist, make him up to look like a woman. Disguised and taking the name Mrs. Doubtfire, he secretly takes the job of nanny to his own children. There he is able to win the acceptance, albeit unknowing, of his family. From there you can pretty well figure out what comic situations arise. For example, he must learn to cook for his family. Most of the gags here do not even require the major premise of the film, they are just generic learning to cook gags. Then when his ex-wife starts dating a rich handsome bachelor (Pierce Brosnan), and of course he uses his position as confidant to steer Miranda back to him. There are few unfamiliar situations in this by-the-numbers comedy. We even have that old standby from dating movies, having to balance two simultaneous dates (well, dinner appointments) without anybody realizing he is not spending full time with them.
I will not say I was a big fan of TOOTSIE, but at least it attempted a little more substance than this light-weight comedy. I will say that if I saw both Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams on the street dressed as women, I would probably be more convinced by Williams portrayal, but there the advantages of MRS. DOUBTFIRE over TOOTSIE end. There are serious flaws in logic in this film. Not the least of these flaws is that even using a bodysuit and mask, the Doubtfire costume would take on the order of fifteen minutes to put on and perhaps as long to take off. There are times in the film where Williams slips in and out of his disguise in seconds. Williams is good at varying his voice, but probably not so good as the story calls for him to be. In specific, he fools his wife of fourteen years throughout the story with many different voices. I doubt that even Mel Blanc could have done that. The film glosses over the difference between being able to put several different characterizations in a voice and the ability to actually disguise a voice so is not recognizable. Another flaw is the dependence on slapstick comedy. Yes it brings a quick laugh, but it just is not as satisfying as real wit in writing. Too many of the scenes are just obvious and mechanical. This is a fluffy see-once situation comedy that is about what you would expect from Chris Columbus who directed the two "Home Alone" films and the somewhat better ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING. This one gets a rating of +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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