Mrs. Doubtfire

Robin Williams is looking for a hit and a lot of people think he’s found one in Mrs. Doubtfire. After all, look at all the stuff in it that’s been looted from previously successful movies: the quarreling parents fighting for custody from Kramer Vs. Kramer; dad acting like the dreamy, half-baked idealist in The Fisher King; exploring new ways to teach kids, just like in Dead Poets Society; and, to top it off, Williams tackles the drag bit that Dustin Hoffman did in Tootsie.

Does this sound like a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, or what? Well, guess again. Maybe next time they’ll get it right.

Williams plays a barely working actor who blows his voice-over job in cartoons because he believes the cartoon characters are bad role models for kids. Then he turns around and almost starts a riot for his son’s birthday party. His long-suffering wife (Sally Fields) decides that she’s finally had enough and throws him out of the house.

After all, Fields is busy with a successful interior decorating business, and she’s taken on all of the responsibility of supporting the family. She resents Williams’ total lack of responsibility, so she files for divorce and wins custody of their three kids.

Rarely allowed to see his children, Williams decides to take advantage of Fields’ need for a housekeeper. Williams disguises himself as a frumpy, but proper, British widow and land the job.

He does so just in time. A very wealthy – and very available – former flame of Fields has resurfaced, played by Pierce Brosnan (who still talks as if his tongue were glued to the roof of his mouth). He has a house that he wants Fields to redesign. Speaking of designs, he obviously has designs for Fields. Most of all, Brosnan wants to play James Bond so badly that it hurts him just to think about it. (This has nothing to do with the plot of Mrs. Doubtfire, but Brosnan keeps trying to get the part and bitching when he doesn’t.)

Mrs. Doubtfire may click as one of the big hits of the holiday season, but it’s slow and lackluster comedy. Williams has his moments, but they occur only during the brief scenes when he’s allowed to cut loose and wing it. Most of the time, his character is just plain annoying. He’s supposed to be cute and lovable, but he comes off as childish and obnoxious.

No wonder Fields wants a divorce. It must be like living with Burt all over again.