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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by F. Faust

When his wife, Miranda (Sally Field), files for a divorce and gets custody of the kids, loving-but-eccentric dad Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is devastated. Regular visits with his three children aren't enough, so when he hears that Miranda is looking for a nanny/housekeeper, he gets his make-up artist brother (Harvey Fierstein) to transform him into a matronly old woman. Posing as the veddy proper Mrs. Iphegenia Doubtfire, Daniel gets the position and quickly wins over the kids. But his double-life ruse gets complicated when Miranda starts dating the dashing, debonair Stu (Pierce Brosnan).

Is It Any Good?

4

Mrs. Doubtfire is one of those great movies that grow better over time. Director Chris Columbus uses the hilarious Robin Williams to his fullest. Williams clowns around, talks a mile a minute, drops pop culture references, and does vocal impersonations that might have little to do with the story but that leaven what would otherwise be too painful and poignant for some kids.

What raises Mrs. Doubtfire above other movies about separation is the care it takes in dealing with real human problems. Though it provides a basis for a comedy, the issue of divorce and custody is treated seriously. Irresponsible Daniel grows from the experience of looking at the world from a woman's point of view.

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