An examination of the classic nineties comedy, exploring where it works and where it misses the mark by today’s standards.
Synopsis
When immature father Daniel (Robin Williams) is divorced by his wife Miranda (Sally Field), he can’t bear the thought of being separated from his three children. In order to spend more time with them, he disguises himself as motherly caretaker Mrs. Doubtfire so that he can become their nanny.
*Spoilers below*
Overview
Mrs. Doubtfire is a popular nineties movie that many people no doubt grew up with. I was not one of those people. Having never seen it before (or if I did, I’ve forgotten completely), I went into the movie with a fresh perspective, curious to see for myself the film I’d heard so much about. I was wary, however, because the plot hinges on a man disguising himself as a woman, so I assumed there was going to be a lot of transphobia throughout, especially given the era it was made. Indeed, there are a few uncomfortable moments, though I found them to be rarer and briefer than anticipated. Those moments aside, I found the majority of the movie to be quite charming and deep.
Transphobia
Let’s knock out the bad before looking at what worked well. There were two particular moments that killed the humor for me. In order to ensure Miranda hires his ideal nanny persona, Daniel first calls her several times with various other fake personas, each one showcasing some sort of problematic behavior with the intent of causing Miranda to dismiss the applicant and become desperate for a good candidate. One of these fake applicants, upon hearing that Miranda has a son, declares she can’t work with males because she used to be one. Miranda shows clear disgust at this news and immediately hangs up, even stating “yikes” afterwards. Was that really necessary?
The second moment was when Daniel’s two eldest children, Lydia (Lisa Jakub) and Chris (Matthew Lawrence), accidentally uncover his secret. Chris walks in on Mrs. Doubtfire peeing and runs to Lydia, telling her to call the cops because Mrs. Doubtfire has both male and female parts, as if being intersex automatically made someone a pervert. Daniel is able to diffuse the situation by revealing that he is, in fact, their father in disguise, but what if Mrs. Doubtfire had actually been a real intersex person with a passion for nannying? That’s not a crime, but she most likely would have been out of a job nonetheless.
I get that trans/intersex information was not super well known or accurate in those days, especially in media portrayals, and I’m betting things would have been handled differently if this had been made today instead. Still, these moments were frustrating and disheartening, and may have ruined the entire movie if other aspects hadn’t made it worth it.
The Reveal
One other reason why the reveal to those two children is problematic is that it didn’t even contribute anything to the story. I expected that at the very least they would now assist him in hiding his identity, and possibly even with sabotaging Miranda’s budding relationship with Stu (Pierce Brosnan) in order to help Daniel and Miranda reconcile. Instead, the rest of the movie would have played out exactly the same if they had as little idea of Mrs. Doubtfire’s secret identity as everyone else.
If anything, knowing that they are aware makes several following moments seem harsh and inconsiderate. In particular, in one scene Miranda asks Mrs. Doubtfire for advice on which dress to wear on a date with Stu, and Daniel tries to convince her that both options she’s considering are too revealing, offering a frumpy old funeral smock instead. They ask the girls for their input, and Lydia, knowing full well that the person she’s addressing is her father in disguise, sides with Miranda and picks one of the sexy dresses. Surely she must have known that this would hurt Daniel, and could have at least pulled him aside later to explain how she felt these days about the divorce and Stu. The thing is, the last we knew, she was upset that her mom kicked her dad out, so much so that she berated her mom about it in front of a complete stranger (as far as she knew at the time). Mere weeks later, she suddenly appears to not only be okay with this, but fully supportive of her mom moving on with someone else. Which is fine, if it had been established, but with little build up besides some very brief glimpses of interactions between Stu and the children, it rather came out of left field, worsened by the insensitivity to her father’s feelings on the matter.
It would have done the movie a service by either leaving out that reveal altogether or finding better ways to incorporate the effects of it throughout the movie (preferably with a less problematic reaction to the reveal in the meantime).
The Relationships
Now that we’ve gotten the bad out of the way, let’s move on to the better aspects of the movie.
I thought Daniel and Miranda’s relationship was intriguing and deep. During the course of his façade, Daniel is able to glean more information about Miranda’s perspective of their marriage and what has led her to divorce*. One thing I found interesting was that both sides had some blame in the long run. Daniel’s inability to behave like a mature adult and take things seriously certainly was a problem. However, as far as he was concerned, he was merely living life true to himself, oblivious to the struggles that Miranda kept bottled up. Relationships are all about communication, and perhaps they could have worked it out if she had spoken up much earlier in their relationship and given him a chance to change. Rather, she hid it all from him for over a decade before coming straight out of the gate with a declaration of divorce.
What makes these elements so interesting, though, is how Daniel truly listens to her now and comes to see that they really aren’t best for each other. They never fully reconcile, though they get to be on amicable terms, and Miranda (presumably) stays with Stu. At the end of the movie, Daniel, now hired to play Mrs. Doubtfire as a host for a children’s show, gives a message to his child viewers about divorce that shows he really took Miranda’s words to heart and decided that sometimes people get along better when they are apart. He has accepted that he and Miranda are not a good fit in a way that indicates a maturity he never achieved before.
Miranda’s relationship with Stu is also interesting. The day Miranda asks for a divorce is the same day she learns Stu is going to be working with her. Clearly she is enamored by him prior to the movie’s start, and possibly knowing that he will soon return to her life played a role in her finally drawing the line (not to say that Daniel didn’t also royally screw up that day). However, when Stu does show up and clearly displays interest in her, she at first deflects and even tells him that she’s still working through a divorce and is not ready. I found this whole dynamic to be fascinating, and I appreciated that she set her own boundaries, even while showing interest in this new potential romance.
Stu himself turned out to be a better man than I anticipated, given that going in I genuinely wasn’t sure if Miranda would wind up with him or return to Daniel. While at the pool, Daniel, as Mrs. Doubtfire, overhears Stu talking to a buddy of his, and I thought for sure this would be where they would reveal Stu is secretly a dick who’s just acting nice around the kids in order to woo Miranda. Instead, he reveals that as he’s grown older, he’s become more interested in settling down with a family, something that never appealed to him in the past. Furthermore, he finds these particular kids to be an absolute delight and enjoys being a father figure to them.
All in all, I’m quite pleased with how they portrayed these relationships and where they ultimately ended up.
Consequences
Daniel is immature and impulsive, which definitely contributed to his actions throughout the movie. He didn’t even have a fully formed idea of his fake name or disguise when starting the process of tricking Miranda. Had he just stuck to what he was supposed to do, he would have met the expectations of the custody court within two months and been able to see his kids more regularly anyway. Instead, he meddles and ends up shooting himself in the foot when his deception is revealed, not to mention nearly killing Stu in the process. He’s given even less time with the kids and forced to be supervised during the occasions where he does get to see them. I appreciate that there are consequences for his extreme actions, even if in the end they are essentially erased. Things still don’t play out quite how he imagined, and he learns to be a better person in the process.
Conclusion
All in all, I enjoyed the characterizations and how the plot played out. Plus, I didn’t have much reason to mention her here, but I absolutely adore Mara Wilson so it was a pleasant surprise to see her playing the youngest daughter, Natalie. It’s by no means a flawless movie, and perhaps a more current production could have resolved some of the issues, but the vast majority of the movie was fun and fascinating. A solid indication of a good movie is when a certain scene leaves you with a feeling of, “Wow, I really enjoyed that!” I had that feeling following several scenes throughout this film, which helped make up for the occasional problematic moments.
Score: 7/10
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