Product Details

• Actors: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Polly Holliday
• Directors: Chris Columbus
• Writers: Anne Fine, Leslie Dixon, Randi Mayem Singer
• Producers: Joan Bradshaw, Linda Jones Clough, Mark Radcliffe, Marsha Garces Williams
• Format: PAL
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.0)
• Subtitles: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (191 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005K26B
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,587 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Mrs. Doubtfire" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This huge 1993 hit for Robin Williams and director Chris Columbus (Home Alone), based on a novel called Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine, stars Williams as a loving but flaky father estranged from his frustrated wife (Sally Field). Devastated by a court order limiting his time with the children, Williams's character disguises himself as a warm, old British nanny who becomes the kids' best friend. As with Dustin Hoffman's performance in Tootsie, Williams's drag act--buried under layers of latex and padding--is the show, and everything and everyone else on screen serves his sometimes frantic role. Since that's the case, it's fortunate that Williams is Williams, and his performance is terribly funny at times and exceptionally believable in those scenes where his character misses his children. Playing Williams's brother, a professional makeup artist, Harvey Fierstein has a good support role in a bright sequence where he tries a number of feminine looks on Williams before settling on Mrs. Doubtfire's visage. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker

Robin Williams impersonates a stocky, middle-aged female housekeeper, and he's too inventive an actor not to get a few gigantic laughs out of the stunt. (His makeup and wardrobe may remind alert viewers of Burt Lancaster's drag cameo in "The List of Adrian Messenger.") 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: Williams's character, a divorced man, becomes Mrs. Doubtfire in order to get around a court-ordered custody arrangement and spend more time with his adorable children. Lessons are learned, loved ones are hugged, and personal growth is achieved-as usual, at the expense of comedy. Some, apparently including Williams, like it warm and cuddly, too. Nobody's perfect. Also with Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Robert Prosky, and Harvey Fierstein. Directed-with a very heavy hand-by Chris Columbus, from a script by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie for the Whole Family, November 29, 2004

By 

Erin R (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mrs. Doubtfire (Full Screen Edition) (DVD)

Mrs. Doubtfire is a comical film following the life of an actor, named Daniel, played by
Robin Williams. The audience enjoys in watching Daniel's quite amusing attempts at
getting his life back in order after loosing both his job and his marriage in the same day.

Excellently directed, Mrs. Doubtfire is the perfect combination of both humor and
heartache. Dealing with issues of a broken home, the movie allows many Americans to
relate to the lives of the characters.

The viewer watches as a father is torn away from his kids, whom he loves dearly. One can
not help but feel compassion for him as he struggles to find a way back into his children's
lives. Viewers will feel like they really know Daniel after watching him grow as both a
person and a father.

In desperation, Daniel takes on another identity in effort to spend more time with his
beloved children. One's stomach will split with laughter watching him jump from one
identity to the other in attempt to remain unidentified. The humor involved is clean, yet
hilarious. Something both kids and their parents can enjoy together.

Mrs. Doubtfire will grip one's heart and hold on tight, until the very end when tears of joy
will slowly well up in every eye. A perfect film for the whole family, Mrs. Doubtfire is
definitely worth one's time.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The funniest movie around!!, November 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mrs. Doubtfire (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

This is truly the funniest movie I have ever seen in my life! Robin Williams is hilarious as Daniel Hillard and Mrs. Doubtfire. His saucy performance makes this a classic that many people will watch again and again. Sally Field is also terrific, and the children (Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, and Mara Wilson) are all fantastic as well. This movie is constantly played over and over at my house.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Like Robin Williams? Now You WILL..., March 10, 2003

By 

Hillary (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mrs Doubtfire [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Although I myself was never a big fan of Mr. Williams, after seeing Mrs. Doubtfire, I changed my mind.

Williams plays Daniel, an actor who is recently unemployed, and a husband and father about to lose his family after pushing his uptight wife Miranda (Sally Field) over the edge. She has been feeling unhappy for a long time with Daniel, but after a wild childrens Birthday party for his son, replete with barnyard animals in the living room, Miranda calls it quits. Daniel is lost without his family, so he enlists the expertise of his brother to make him into a woman. When Miranda interviews for a new housekeeper, there is Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire at the door.

This is a wonderful movie for the whole family to enjoy. Williams is touching as the father who longs for the precious time he can spend with his three beloved children, even if he has to do it in DRAG! Sally Field is a bit irritating in her intolerance of Daniel at first, but then sweetens to the realization that he is a very special dad who will sacrifice whatever he has to, to get what he wants.

There are many fun comic moments where Williams gets caught between his gender bending dual act, and of course his knack for voices is also showcased here as well. All in all, a definite treat that you AND your children can enjoy together.