4/5* | Shiv’s Show | Siobhan Divers
Dir: Chris Columbus
125 mins
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Prosky.
“I do a great impression of a hot dog.”
An iconic film with some hilarious scenes and great characters, Mrs Doubtfire is a classic!
The film follows the live of freelance voice actor Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) and his no-longer-intact family unit – his wife asks for a divorce after eccentric Daniel throws an over-the-top party inside their house. Troubled with the now limited access to his children, Daniel dresses as an older British woman with the help of his brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein), who specialises in special effects and makeup, in order to convince his ex-wife Miranda (Sally Field) to hire him as a nanny, ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ being her name. Despite winning over Miranda and the children, Daniels comically struggles to balance his two personas.
The late Robin Williams shines in his lead role, carrying both the narrative and the humour. Sentimentality rightly takes over towards the middle of the film, limiting the number of jokes however the film starts and ends strongly.
“He was quite fond of the drink. It was the drink that killed him.
How awful, he was an alcoholic?
No, he was hit by a Guinness truck, so it was quite literally the drink that killed him.”
The premise of the film is slightly controversial by today’s standards since it ridicules the whole idea of identities, subjecting it to be merely a tool for the sake of humour. This being said, at the time, the idea was genius. So while it perhaps couldn’t be made today and receive the same positive reaction, it is a classic, well-played by the comical and incredible Robin Williams – Chris Columbus and his team made the right choice, there is no better suit to the character than Mr Williams!
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Siobhan x
Shiv's Show 