Wednesday 9 July 2014

Mrs. Doubtfire (4 Stars)


Robin Williams stars as Daniel Hillard, a talented voice actor who dubs children's cartoons. He is devoted to his three children, but his anti-authoritarian way of educating them disturbs his wife so much that she decides to divorce him. While the divorce is proceeding he loses his job, so the judge grants sole custody of the children to his wife on a temporary basis. He has three months to find a new job and a suitable place to live. During this time he is only allowed to see his children once a week, which distresses both him and the children.

As a solution Daniel disguises himself as an elderly English woman, Mrs. Doubtfire, and applies to be his wife's housekeeper. Neither his wife nor his children recognise him, so he gets the job. He overhauls his own life by making his Mrs. Doubtfire persona very strict. After initial complaints the children grow fond of "her", and "she" also becomes a close friend of Daniel's wife.

The film is hilarious, with the efforts to keep his identity secret leading to more and more calamities.

This was the second film at the 2014 Brindley Place Film Festival. The rain was so heavy that I feared the film would be cancelled, but it started on time. The few viewers cowered under the cover of a nearby office building, from which the screen could be viewed in the distance. About 15 minutes after the film started the rain stopped, so I was able to sit on the steps. The weather was still cold, so I sat shivering while I watched the film.

Matt and Alex remained dry.
Dansator didn't.

2 comments:

  1. A sentimental five, but perhaps an objective four. Will always be a classic as it cheered the whole family unit up despite the often sad divorce story line.

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    1. Maybe I should have given it a 5. I've watched it a few times, but I've never bought it on DVD. My daughter only owns three DVDs (three???) and this is one of them. I'll have to ask if I can borrow it from her to re-assess it.

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