It’s the hilarious, smash hit family comedy… about a bitter divorce!
The late, great Robin Williams was at the top of his game in 1993, and “Mrs. Doubtfire” let the comic actor run amok even when not dressing up like an old lady. Seriously, his character here, Daniel Hillard, is pretty unhinged, and it kinda makes sense that he loses custody of his kids. He’s lucky he’s not in jail for poisoning Pierce Brosnan!
(To be fair, who the hell do you think you are ordering a jambalaya without pepper?! It’s a Cajun dish, Pierce, what the hell is the point?)
Old Millennials hosts Tyler and Angela both watched “Mrs. Doubtfire” a bunch as kids, as they both came from Robin Williams-loving homes. So were they nervous about revisiting the film and finding a whole bunch of outdated and insensitive jokes? You bet! Luckily, the movie largely avoids any questions about gender and sexuality (with the exception of that creepy bus driver who keeps hitting on Mrs. Doubtfire), and keeps things simple: Daniel is lying to his kids and pretending to be an old woman because he loves being around them so much! Nothing wrong with that, right? Right?! Right?!!?!!?
Let’s make one thing clear: This movie is still pretty watchable, thanks to some genuinely terrific comedic riffing by Williams, as well as the surprisingly sensitive and believable depiction of divorce (thanks mostly to an excellent Sally Field performance). Heck even these three kids are likeable – Lisa Jakub, Matthew “Not the ‘Whoa’ Lawrence” Lawrence and adorable Mara Wilson in her screen debut. Even new beau Pierce Brosnan is a nice guy! We kinda bad he’s a victim of a run-by fruiting!
So get your frosting facial ingredients together, sing a song from “Funny Girl,” and don’t double-book yourself and you alter ego at the same time at the same place, dummy. Also try to figure out why local TV producer Robert Prosky decides to replace his soft-spoken kids show host with… another soft spoken kids show host!? Is Euphegenia Doubtfire really more interesting than that dinosaur guy?!
Wait, Mrs. Doubtfire’s first name is EUPHEGENIA?!
Also discussed on this episode of Old Millennials Remember Movies
- Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- Red Notice (2021)
- Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)
- No Time to Die (2021)
Check out these related past episodes of OMRM
- Aladdin – 1992 – episode 38
- Jumanji – 1995 – episode 102
- Home Alone – 1990 – episode 26
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – 1992 – episode 63
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