Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire
Directed by	Chris Columbus
Produced by	Marsha Garces Williams Robin Williams Mark Radcliffe
Starring	Robin Williams Sally Field Lisa Jakub Matthew Lawrence Mara Wilson Pierce Brosnan Harvey Fierstein
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Editing by	Raja Gosnell
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release	November 24, 1993
Running time	125 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000
Gross revenue	$441,286,195

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams (who also served as co-producer) and Sally Field and based on the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup. The film was placed 67th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century, and was also rated No. 40 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of All Time. The original music score was composed by Howard Shore.

Plot

Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is a talented voice actor newly unemployed after walking out on his latest project. Daniel is devoted to his three children Lydia (Lisa Jakub), Chris (Matthew Lawrence) and Natalie (Mara Wilson), but his wife Miranda (Sally Field) considers him irresponsible and immature, and their marriage is on the rocks. When Daniel throws Chris a rousing birthday party, Miranda finally snaps and asks for a divorce. At their first custody hearing, the judge provisionally grants Miranda custody of the children, since Daniel has neither a suitable residence nor a steady job.

Daniel learns that Miranda intends to hire a housekeeper to care for the children. Since she is not willing to let him watch the kids, Daniel surreptitiously alters her classifieds form and calls her several times, using his voice acting skills to pose as a variety of lousy applicants. He then calls her posing as an elderly Scottish nanny, whom he dubs "Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire." Impressed by her supposed credentials, Miranda invites "Mrs. Doubtfire" for an interview. Daniel enlists his brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein), a makeup artist, and Frank's partner Jack to transform him into Mrs. Doubtfire.

Neither Miranda nor the children recognise Daniel when he goes to the interview as Mrs Doubtfire, and Miranda hires her. The children initially struggle to adjust to Mrs. Doubtfire's strict methods, but she soon makes herself an indispensable part of the family. Daniel, who has had to learn several skills, also steadily rebuilds his life, getting a menial job at a TV station and improving his apartment. However, he is riven with jealousy when he notices Miranda's new love interest Stuart Dunmire (Pierce Brosnan) spending more time with his family. One day, Chris and Lydia inadvertently discover that Mrs. Doubtfire is really their father in disguise. Daniel warns them not to tell Miranda, as if she finds out, she will put Daniel in jail. Both agree to keep his secret, but Daniel also warns them not to tell their younger sister, Natalie because she's still young and will reveal the truth to Miranda.

While working at the TV station, CEO Jonathan Lundy (Robert Prosky) is amused when he sees Daniel clowning around with toy dinosaurs on the set of an outdated children's program. He invites him to dinner to pitch new ideas. Miranda, meanwhile, expects Mrs. Doubtfire to attend a birthday dinner with Stuart at the same time and place. Daniel tries to postpone his dinner with Lundy, but is completely booked, Daniel goes to the restaurant and tries to rotate between both dinners by changing in and out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume in the restroom. By this time, Natalie has suspected that Mrs. Doubtfire is in fact her father and asks Miranda to escort her to the restroom. Daniel gets tipsy and his behavior becomes more erratic. He dumps pepper (which Stuart is allergic to) on Stuart's order and then forgets to change out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume before returning to Lundy's table. Daniel covers for his mistake by explaining to a bemused Lundy that his alter ego is his idea for a new television persona, which impresses Lundy. Stuart then starts choking on the pepper. Out of regret, Daniel, still in the Mrs. Doubtfire costume, administers the Heimlich maneuver on Stuart. During the struggle, Daniel's mask peels off, revealing his identity. Horrified and furious, Miranda storms out of the restaurant with the children.

At their next custody hearing, despite Daniel demonstrating he has a job and a suitable home, the judge is disturbed by Daniel's recent "unorthodox" behavior, and grants Miranda full custody of the children, with Daniel limited to supervised visitation once a week. The ruling leaves Daniel heartbroken. Without Mrs. Doubtfire, Miranda and the children again are withdrawn and depressed. While interviewing other house sitters for the children, she tried to reassure them that they're better off because of what Daniel did. The children refuses to believe Miranda and she admits that their lives were so much better with her. However, they are delighted when they see Daniel dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire hosting his own television program, "Euphegenia's House", which has become a hit. Miranda pays Daniel a visit at the studio, telling him the kids were happier with him involved, and they make their peace. She agrees to joint custody. Later, she introduces the kids to their new "babysitter": Daniel, now undisguised and without supervision, to their obvious delight. Miranda happily watches a Euphegenia's House episode where Mrs. Doubtfire answers a letter from a little girl whose parents are divorcing, to which Mrs Doubtfire responds with the advice that no matter what the circumstances, love will prevail.

Cast

• Robin Williams as Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire
• Sally Field as Miranda Hillard
• Lisa Jakub as Lydia Hillard
• Matthew Lawrence as Christopher 'Chris' Hillard
• Mara Wilson as Natalie Hillard
• Pierce Brosnan as Stuart "Stu" Dunmire
• Harvey Fierstein as "Uncle Frank" Hillard
• Scott Capurro as "Aunt Jack" Hillard
• Robert Prosky as Jonathan Lundy
• Polly Holliday as Gloria Chaney
• Anne Haney as Mrs. Sellner
• Martin Mull as Justin Gregory
• Todd Williams as Todd the Bartender

Images

External links

• Mrs. Doubtfire at the Internet Movie Database

Sally Field films

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)  ·