SHE MAKES DINNER. SHE DOES WINDOWS. SHE READS BEDTIME STORIES. SHE’S A BLESSING… IN DISGUISE.
When Miranda Hillard (Sally Field) divorces Daniel (Robin Williams), he takes drastic means to be close to his three children, turning himself (with a little help from his makeup artist brother) into a sixtysomething, Scottish housekeeper.
A huge box-office hit for Williams who was given free rein and turns in a very funny performance as the sweet old lady who has a saucy streak. The movie provides plenty of challenges for him to juggle his two characters and the highlight is a frantic dinner scene near the end.
Cute and not exactly believable, but Chris Columbus makes sure that we care about this family and Pierce Brosnan’s character is not turned into a simple villain.
1993-U.S. 125 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Chris Columbus. Screenplay: Randi Mayem Singer, Leslie Dixon. Novel: Anne Fine (“Alias Madame Doubtfire”). Cast: Robin Williams (Daniel Hillard), Sally Field (Miranda Hillard), Pierce Brosnan (Stu), Harvey Fierstein, Polly Holliday, Lisa Jakub, Robert Prosky.
Trivia: Co-produced by Williams. The novel was also turned into a French TV movie in 2003. Later a stage musical.
Oscar: Best Makeup. Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Actor (Williams).
Quote: “I hope you’re up for a little competition. She’s got a power tool in the bedroom, dear. It’s her own personal jackhammer. She could break sidewalk with that thing. She uses it and the lights dim, it’s like a prison movie. Amazed she hasn’t chipped her teeth.” (Williams, as Mrs. Doubtfire, discussing Field’s sex life with Brosnan)
Last word: “We would have exactly what was scripted, and then Robin would go off and it was something to behold. The poor script supervisor. Remember, this is the early 1990s, she wasn’t typing what he was saying. She was handwriting it and Robin would change every take. So Robin would go to a place where he couldn’t remember much of what he said. We would go to the script supervisor and ask her and sometimes she didn’t even get it all. Often, he would literally give us a completely different take than what we did doing the written takes.” (Columbus, Business Insider)
