IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Netflix
"Mrs Doubtfire"? Seriously? Joah, it was a funny family comedy, but that's about it. And that's actually one of your favourite movies?"
That's the kind of statement I have to listen to very often when I tell someone I love that movie. But there are so many reasons why you have to love this movie! Not just as a kid, but always and forever.
First of all the story: Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is an unsuccessful actor and a chaotic person, is married and has three children. But his wife can't stand this good-for-nothing anymore. Separation, custody of the mother. But Daniel doesn't want to resign himself to this and so he decides to work as a nanny in the disguise of old Mrs. Doubtfire, so that he can always be close to his children and wants to get his family back. And that, of course, leads to extremely fun situations.
Yes, admittedly, if you read it like that, it sounds like the average comedy as we know it. But there are so many things that make this film so wonderfully likeable.
First of all, and how could it be different with a comedy, the humor. "Mrs Doubtfire" (which has the additional German title "Das stachelige Kindermädchen"-the stubbly nanny) combines all kinds of humour. Slapstick, irony, clumsy comedy, screwball scenes, fancy dress jokes, a little bit of disgusting gags, black humor, yes, and also clichéd gags (and admittedly even the one or another outdated one). In general they are super fun, though, because none of the characters take themselves seriously. No matter if fire catching plastic breasts, burping grannies at the bar, ingenious puns and allusions of Williams, situation comedy and of course gender-specific problems. Simply everything is there, the film never gets monotonous. There is always a new gag, which is completely different than the one before. Since my childhood I've seen the film at least 30 times, oh no, much more often, I can quote the film and still I can't stop laughing.
But, and that's what makes the movie stand out from other comedies, it also has serious moments. Moments that are really real, that show that the film doesn't take place in a brightly colored, over-sugared and "everything gets good" world. Although I have to laugh tears during the film, there are also some phases that are extremely serious, especially because they seem absolutely real. Families that break up. Children who grow up without a father or mother. The failure of a love that cannot be put right again. The film shows in its serious moments how it can really be. What real life is like. That not everything always turns out well, but that you should make the best out of the new situation. And that's what really sets the film apart from many other pure comedies.
Then there are the characters. Yes, admittedly, many of them are just incidental, but they are all sympathetic and fit perfectly, even Pierce Brosnan, who here plays something like a parody on his Bond (if the movie wouldn't be older already).
Yes, and then of course there is Robin Williams, one of the most likeable and best actors ever. Maybe the Charlie Chaplin of our time. Daniel Hillard is Williams' personal "Tramp". A prowler, actually unsuccessful, but who persistently keeps on going and tries to reach his goal with a lot of wit and creativity, which he doesn't always succeed in. Williams can let off steam like seldom in a movie. He improvises, fidgets and fools around, brings cool sayings, imitates different voices, that it is screamingly funny.
And the make-up is divine. In no other film of this time an "old man mask" has convinced me as much as here. And finally: The movie gets better every time, you always get to know something new, you get to know a little bit that you never really understood before. I'm thinking of "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille." Or some references to sex. Yes, you can't understand them as a child. But then later on... And now I even know what "jambalaya" is.
I don't know what else to say. "Mrs Doubtfire" is a great comedy for young and old. It's a movie where I can't stop laughing, but it can also impress with serious parts. And especially with a Robin Williams in perhaps his most iconic role. And the film that I loved as a small child, that I watched often and together with my parents. And which I still watch every now and then today.
