Mrs. Doubtfire (Full Screen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Extra features are great!
Review: I have already watched Mrs. Doubtfire many times before buying the DVD. Still, the extra features on the DVD were wonderful, especially the deleted scenes. I wished that some of these scenes could have made it to the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Extra features are great!
Review: I have already watched Mrs. Doubtfire many times before buying the DVD. Still, the extra features on the DVD were wonderful, especially the deleted scenes. I wished that some of these scenes could have made it to the movie.

Rating:
Summary: CUTE!
Review: I have the widescreen version of this DVD-it's the same show, but hey, what the hell! :) This is one movie someone would never tire of-Robin Williams is such a great impressionist (I'm jealous!), & Sally Field can be quite a "hard-nosed whatsit" hahaha--but it all turns out for the better in the end :)

Rating:
Summary: A Blast of Reality From A Comedy
Review: I'm rather familiar with this movie for different reasons. First, a search of articles, including one in USAToday, about the movie will show quotes from me. Second, I rented the whole theater for a special showing of the movie to divorced and single fathers.

Though a comedy, the movie was very characteristic of the treatment of fathers in our court systems. I had been working with divorced and single fathers for a few years by the time the movie came out and had just released a comprehensive education manual to be distributed by non-profit groups for fathers. Robins Williams donated several items to be given out during the showing, including movie posters.

One item of note, Pierce Brosnan became a single father of sorts during the movie's shooting. His wife passed away from cancer, leaving him with very young children to raise.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BALANCE OF HEART, LAUGHS & PERFORMANCE
Review: It is a very funny story that tries to send a family message, the father's maturation and the family dealing with the divorce, there is a nice balance of humor and heart, due to Williams incredible performance.
VERY GOOD movie, you'll laugh and be sad at the same time by how this father tries to reach his boys making a fool of himself by dressing like a woman

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie for the Whole Family
Review: Mrs. Doubtfire is a comical film following the life of an actor, named Daniel, played by
Robin Williams. The audience enjoys in watching Daniel's quite amusing attempts at
getting his life back in order after loosing both his job and his marriage in the same day.

Excellently directed, Mrs. Doubtfire is the perfect combination of both humor and
heartache. Dealing with issues of a broken home, the movie allows many Americans to
relate to the lives of the characters.

The viewer watches as a father is torn away from his kids, whom he loves dearly. One can
not help but feel compassion for him as he struggles to find a way back into his children's
lives. Viewers will feel like they really know Daniel after watching him grow as both a
person and a father.

In desperation, Daniel takes on another identity in effort to spend more time with his
beloved children. One's stomach will split with laughter watching him jump from one
identity to the other in attempt to remain unidentified. The humor involved is clean, yet
hilarious. Something both kids and their parents can enjoy together.

Mrs. Doubtfire will grip one's heart and hold on tight, until the very end when tears of joy
will slowly well up in every eye. A perfect film for the whole family, Mrs. Doubtfire is
definitely worth one's time.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable film for the whole family
Review: Somewhere during the mid 1990s, Mrs Doubtfire moved from being a very funny film to being a decent enough way to wile away a couple of hours. Therein lies the big problem with this film. There is no doubt that it is a good comedy, but it simply is not a film that you can watch repeatedly, as it definitely loses its impact if you watch it too often. I really got fed up with this film sometime around 1995 as I had seen it too often (cinema, television, video). I have not watched the film since, until I sat down and watched this DVD for the review. Returning to it after a break of six years certainly has freshened up the comedy a little and it has turned out to be something of a pleasant experience to do this review. I guess now that I should resist the temptation to watch the DVD again until maybe 2006.

Funnily enough I was reminded of this problem with the film by my brother when it was announced that I had the DVD for review: "Not a film you can watch too often" he said, and reminded me of the fact that I had not seen it for a while.

That is not to say that it is a bad film, but simply that it is a film that outstays its welcome very quickly in my view. The story is a pretty simple one. Manic but loving father of three and sometime actor Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) has a knack for annoying his busy professional wife Miranda (Sally Field). This is no more evidenced than when he collects his children from school on his son's twelfth birthday and takes them home for a birthday party - a party specifically forbidden by dear old mother - complete with a mobile zoo. Cue one nosey neighbour who drops poor old Daniel in it by telephoning Miranda. Cue the obligatory mid-life marital bust-up and the dreaded D-word. Daniel finds himself in court with a judge passing sentence on him - 90 days to prove he is worthy of joint custody of his children or else: in the interim, Saturday-only visits. Faced with limited options, he gets himself an apartment, gets a job and sets out to impress his case worker. Then, he finds out that Miranda is planning to employ a housekeeper to look after the children and house during the afternoon and evening until Miranda returns from work.

Desperate for more time with his children, Daniel makes the natural choice of gaining the job, which he does by slightly devious means. Thus is born Mrs Doubtfire, the almost perfect housekeeper who miraculously gets everything working almost to perfection, although watching wealthy Stu Dunmire (Pierce Brosnan) muscling in on his ex-wife and children sometimes gets a little too much. The merriment continues as "she" gets the opportunity of a new career at the television station where he works.

Just as Tootsie depended entirely on Dustin Hoffman carrying off the role of the cross-dresser, so Mrs Doubtfire depends pretty much entirely upon Robin Williams carrying off the role of the cross-dresser. Since Robin Williams is an extremely talented actor, even if perhaps not so talented chooser of roles, there was little doubt that he had the ability to carry off the role. However, the film was to a large extent made by the performance of Sally Field playing off Robin Williams, and some of their scenes together are about as good as you can see in comedy. Pretty much the rest of the cast were along for the ride, and it would appear to have been a rather enjoyable ride, with only Harvey Fierstein being completely memorable. The direction of Chris Columbus is pretty taut and this generally is a very decent effort across the board.

Certainly a film to be enjoyed, just not every other day in my view. There might be better around but this is still worthy of consideration.


Rating:
Summary: Doubtfut...Very Doubtful!
Review: This reviewer thinks David Spade on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's "Weekend Update" summed up MRS. DOUBTFIRE best when he states, "I liked this movie the first time...when it was called 'TOOTSIE'!" Another in a line of Robin Williams movies (i.e. GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, HOOK, etc.) in which what starts out as a comedy wanders into sappy territory and the film falls flat. Also, Robin Williams looks grotesque in drag.