25 years on, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ aging exceptionally well
“‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ is my favorite Robin Williams film.”
I finally said this out loud the other day, in the middle of a podcast recording. As the words emerged, there was already the upward vocal tilt of an apology, followed by some argumentative gymnastics to explain how in a world where “Good Will Hunting” exists, the comedian’s turn as Euphegenia Doubtfire can be a career pinnacle.
And yet on the 25th anniversary of the film — yes, “Mrs. Doubtfire” will be a quarter century old this year — it’s a pleasure to report that the movie is aging exceptionally well. It’s a good film, and a great San Francisco comedy, in the all-time upper echelon with “Foul Play” and “What’s Up, Doc?”
The film took an upward climb to get there. The first mention of “Mrs. Doubtfire,” in a Herb Caen column on Jan. 13, 1993, was filled with skepticism.
“Robin Williams in drag? Yes, in his next movie, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire,’ which will begin filming here in mid-March for a month or so,” The Chronicle columnist wrote. “The name suggests a comedy. We shall see …”
San Francisco Chronicle critic Peter Stack gave the movie the highest Chronicle rating upon its November release, a Little Man jumping out of his chair — but even that review read like the film was getting a hometown discount. Across the nation, “Mrs. Doubtfire” received mostly lukewarm responses.
“Anyone looking for the
kind of comic brio that Dustin Hoffman and company brought to ‘Tootsie’ will not find it here,” the Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan wrote. Others were downright savage. “It’s just raw, uncoated stupidity that sticks in your throat,” the Austin (Texas) Chronicle’s Robert Faires sniped.
The comedy finished as the second-highest grossing film of 1993 behind “Jurassic Park.” But 1993 was probably the worst time in history to be commercially popular. Generation X was hardwired to throw harsh vibes on anything viewed as successful; Hollywood would make an entire movie about this phenomenon (“Reality Bites”) the following year.
So in cinema history, “Mrs. Doubtfire” was quickly classified as second-tier Williams film. Not as bad as “Jack” or “Bicentennial Man,” yet still nowhere near as good as “Dead Poets Society.”
But watch it now, and there’s a lot to appreciate, and maybe a little you missed. Director Chris Columbus used the “Good Morning, Vietnam” approach for the comedy, setting Williams’ improvisational instincts loose like a Jack Russell terrier in a dog park.
Take the scene before Mrs. Doubtfire appears, when Williams’ voice actor character Daniel calls his wife, Miranda (a strict but still sympathetic Sally Field), doing impressions of a series of bad nannies, to set his alter ego up as a frontrunner. “I am … job,” Williams says, as if those are the only three words of English he has learned. “I am job!”
Some comedic scenes miss — the entire quickchange Daniel/Doubtfire sequence at Bridges restaurant in Danville is a strain — but the film ends with more than its share of eternally repeatable lines. (“Helloooooo!” “It was a run-by fruiting!”)
The serious scenes in many ways play even better. The depiction of divorce is a realistic one, no surprise as Williams was dealing with the fallout from the still-raw breakup of his first marriage. (Williams’ second wife, Marcia Garces Williams, was a producer on the film.)
And the movie, despite being filled with broad slapstick, ends on a melancholy note. Williams, who amazingly is given no love interest, is still divorced. Miranda’s hot new boyfriend (Pierce Brosnan) doesn’t ever take the expected villain turn. Life doesn’t guarantee a happy ending, just a series of struggles and the occasional moment of grace.
And yet the greatest rediscovery, 25 years later, is the film’s progressive intangibles, with moments of discomfort (the sexual harassment by a bus driver) but overall themes that resonate in 2018. The latter was likely fueled by a combination of Williams, the screenwriters and Columbus, the “Home Alone” director who like Williams chose to live in San Francisco while working in Hollywood.
Daniel’s gay brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein) and his partner, Jack (San Francisco comedian Scott Capurro), aren’t portrayed as caricatures. “Uncle Frank” and “Aunt Jack” are arguably the most sane and stable adults in the film.
A more subtle message arrives at the ending, where a stodgy old white judge refers to Daniel’s cross-dressing as “deviant” behavior, fueling a legal decision to further restrain the father’s custody rights. And yet at the finish of the film, he is still dressing as Mrs. Doubtfire, now as a successful children’s television host.
One final positive thing about this movie: all the love for San Francisco cast and crew. Along with Capurro, longtime radio host Terry McGovern has a role, and Christopher Pray with the Buster puppet from KRON’s lovely local “Buster and Me” show makes a cameo. Both credited screenwriters, Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, had Bay Area ties.
The most important review of “Mrs. Doubtfire” wasn’t in 1993, but in 2014, when Williams unexpectedly took his own life. At a loss, hundreds of fans flocked to the “Mrs. Doubtfire” house at Steiner Street and Broadway in Pacific Heights. At the moment of deep grief, the role and the man became one.
“There was really no other place for me to pay my respects,” 31-year-old San Francisco resident Mike Orlick told The Chronicle’s Kurtis Alexander in 2014. “This was the first thing I knew to be comedy.”
“Mrs. Doubtfire” is a great movie in the same way that one argues Will Clark belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Oakland food trucks have the best tacos in the world. It’s a total homer pick.
But Williams was a total San Francisco actor. And this is a San Francisco role that showcased his greatest attributes.
“Playing an elderly woman in drag gave me a lot of freedom from having to be the funny guy every minute,” Williams told The Chronicle in 1993. “I got the chance to do some acting in a movie that had two things I think are important in life, farce and soul.”
So next time, don’t apologize for saying it:
“Mrs. Doubtfire” is the best Robin Williams film.
“Mrs. Doubtfire” is a great movie in the same way that one argues Will Clark belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Oakland food trucks have the best tacos in the world. It’s a total homer pick.