Movies - Mrs. Doubtfire

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	Movies - Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 comedy movie based on the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Cast

Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire – Robin Williams
Miranda Hillard – Sally Field
Lydia Hillard – Lisa Jakub
Christopher Hillard – Matthew Lawrence
Natalie Hillard – Mara Wilson
Uncle Frank Hillard – Harvey Fierstein
Stuart Dunmeyer – Pierce Brosnan
Gloria Chaney – Polly Holliday
Jonathan Lundy – Robert Prosky

Plot

Outline

Set in the city by the bay, San Francisco. Robin Williams plays Daniel Hillard, an out-of-work actor with extraordinary imitative skills, whose interior decorator spouse Miranda (played by Field) wants a divorce. Since Daniel has no steady source of income, Miranda gets primary custody of their three children and Daniel only has limited visitation rights. Miranda places an advertisement for a housekeeper and gets a surprising response – a large number of unsuitable applicants. Daniel had decided that the best way to spend more time with his children was to become the ideal housekeeper. He first makes it difficult for Miranda by pretending to be the "unsuitable applicants" over the telephone and finally presenting the perfect applicant, giving the name "Mrs. Doubtfire" after reading the news headline "Police Doubt Fire Was Accidental". With the cosmetics skills of his brother and his own acting talent, Daniel goes to the Hillard residence as Euphegenia Doubtfire and is quickly offered the job.

As Mrs. Doubtfire, Daniel is able to see his children every day, giving him the opportunity to be the firm father figure that he wasn't before the divorce. The difference shows in the three children, and Miranda remarks one night that something about Mrs. Doubtfire is very familiar.

Ending

Daniel's cover is blown when Christopher walks in on him standing at the toilet – he then explains the situation to the two elder children, explaining that Natalie would not be able to keep such a big secret. Both children are happy to have their father back in their lives.

The deceit is then revealed to Miranda one evening when Mrs. Doubtfire is dining out with the Hillard family on the same night that Daniel is at dinner with the executive producer at his new job in a television studio. Intending to get revenge on Stuart, Miranda's new boyfriend, Daniel sneaks into the restaurant kitchen and adds cayenne pepper which Stuart is allergic to. Upon consuming his food Stuart starts to choke forcing a guilty Daniel under the Mrs. Doubtfire guise to perform Abdominal thrusts on him to avert his choking. During a particuarly rough thrust, Daniel's mask is partially ripped off, revealing his true identity. Afterward, Daniel apologizes to Stuart for the incident.

In family court, Daniel confesses his need to be with his children, but custody is awarded wholly to Miranda. They all miss having him around, though, and one day they see "Aunt Euphegenia's House," a new children's TV show of which Daniel (as Mrs. Doubtfire) is the star. This evidence allows Daniel and Miranda to agree to joint custody of their three children. The movie ends with Miranda watching an episode of "Aunt Euphegenia's House" that features advice to children of divorced parents.

Proposed alternate ending

According to Williams, the studio had wanted the parents to be reunited in the final reel, but both he and Field resisted this, thinking it too unrealistic and likely to give false hope to the children of divorced parents.

Controversy

The character Mrs Doubtfire claims to be from England in the movie, but she speaks with a Scottish accent all through the film. This has offended both Scottish and English viewers of the movie, and contributed to the common British view that main stream Americans have little knowledge of British (or Scottish and English at least) geography or culture. However, in all fairness, Stu (Pierce Brosnan) does say to Mrs. Doubtfire (Robin Williams) that her accent sounds "a bit muddled" as he is from England and knows what a proper English accent should sound like. Therefore, Mrs. Doubtfire's accent is hardly English sounding, and the movie does make a point of this.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Mrs. Doubtfire ]

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