Mrs. Doubtfire

Director Chris Columbus shrewdly brings together many of the same selling points as in his "Home Alone" movies, mixing broad comedic strokes with heavy-handed messages about the magical power of family.

Williams gives an inspired comic performance. Unfortunately, he outclasses the movie, which is basically a patchwork rip-off of Tootsie.

Most of the fun comes from seeing people fooled by what seems to us, who are in on the joke, a completely penetrable ruse. Curiously enough, what's really unpersuasive about Mrs. Doubtfire -- not to say draggy -- is its nondrag sequences.

Williams has to break out of a second-rate "Tootsie" imitation, ankles clamped in pathos and face covered in latex. He pulls it off in the end, but it's not pretty.

But the picture as a whole isn't in the class of "Tootsie" and "Some Like It Hot," mostly because its premise is sentimental, not cynical.

Now that Robin Williams has been emasculated--dangerously schizoid comic turned into nice-guy movie star--it isn't too surprising that a commercial hack like Chris Columbus would use him the way he does in this cutesy 1993 comedy: cutting between Williams trying on different voices rather than holding the camera on him as he lurches between these voices without notice.

Mrs. Doubtfire is overlong, barely funny, and a surprisingly bitter movie especially for a film aimed at children.

Let me start by saying, the Metacritic "Cult" as it were, is overwhelmingly too harsh on many films. This is arguably Williams' finest role. I'm relatively new to Meta, but unless these percentage ratings are on par with a golf score (no pun intended) then the core drivers of Metacritic are simply embarrassing themselves. Lighten up. There are plenty of other ways to feed your everthirsting egos. Perhaps give "Yelp" a try.

Mrs. Doubtfire is without a doubt one of the funniest movies ever made, as well as possibly Robin Williams' finest performance. Every frame is dripping with humor and heart, and it doesn't shy away from the emotional weight and trauma that effects a family undergoing a divorce. Sally Field also gives an incredibly underrated performance that is one of the most dynamic I have seen on the screen in a long time. Robin Williams is hilarious, absurd, crazy for his kids, and deeply vulnerable. The insanity of his plan to dress up as a 60+ year old woman his ex-wife hires as a housekeeper is hysterical. The balancing act the movie undertakes of managing all the spinning plates of a single father, a professional trying to make it in television, and a nanny is such a wonderful sight to behold. This movie is heartwarming and melancholy all at once. You're missing out if you haven't seen it.

Robin Williams is this movie. Without him this movie would come across as a "Tootsie" with cheaper jokes. And it still does at times.

After losing custody of his kids for, basically, being a big kid, Robin Williams goes undercover as a British nanny so he can remain a part of their lives. While he’s initially unprepared for the rigors of housekeeping, and the little ones almost immediately see through the disguise, he soon finds his rhythm and grows to become an indispensable resource for the family, not to mention a close confidant for his ex-wife. Although he often abuses that position (especially when the wife shows interest in a former flame), in general he’s a more active, responsible parent under the wig and cardigan than he ever was as a traditional father. This is another weak, by-the-numbers Chris Columbus picture, elevated by a manic, largely-improvised performance from Williams. Credit the director for the liberty he grants in that respect, allowing his star to completely take over and alter the tone of several scenes, but man alive, the nuts and bolts of the film are completely inept and flavorless. That’s something I’ve noticed in most of Columbus’s efforts behind the camera: they just aren’t very well-made, with the best entries (Home Alone, for instance) succeeding in spite of his pervasive, amateurish tendencies. They all feel like big-budget Hallmark movies; broad, hammy and superficial. This is no exception. It’s just a quick-lipped Robin Williams dress-up show, nothing more.

Over time, Robin Williams wacky improv and random impressions have gained a notable level of cringe. The slapstick antics of this film juxtaposed against emotional family beats is hard to take seriously or find fully funny.