Product Description

Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is no ordinary father, so when he learns his ex-wife (Sally Field) needs a housekeeper, he applies for the job. With the perfect wig, a little makeup and a dress for all occasions, he becomes Mrs. Doubtfire, a devoted British nanny who is hired on the spot. Free to be the "woman" he never knew he could be, the disguised Daniel creates a whole new life with his entire family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3494 in DVD
• Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
• Released on: 2008-03-04
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Digital Sound, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 125 minutes

Features

• Out of work father Robin Williams find himself suddenly divorced without custody of his kids. To solve this problem, he disguises himself as an old Scottish nanny to get hired by his ex-wife and be closer to his kids. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 Age: 024543425465 UPC: 024543425465 Manufacturer No: 2242546

Amazon.com essential video
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

On the DVD
The special features on Mrs. Doubtfire (Behind-the-Seams Edition) are a real treasure trove for fans of the hit Chris Columbus film as well as longtime admirers of Robin Williams. Loads of backstage footage, archived interviews, and miscellaneous gems are packed onto the second of this two-disc set, giving viewers a strong sense of what it was like to film this touching comedy in an atmosphere of discovery and semi-improvisation. Beginning at the beginning, "From Man to Mrs.--The Evolution of Mrs. Doubtfire" tells the story of the movie's origins from British novel to a Robin Williams project, shepherded to the screen by Williams and his producer wife Marsha Garces Williams, and given its ultimate shape and heart by director Columbus. Everyone agrees that the pre-Columbus working script was too thin and too strained with a happy ending that got Williams' character and his estranged wife (Sally Field) back together. The soul of the story, Columbus says in an interview, is its painful tale of a divorce in which children and parents have to suffer the consequences of separation. Elsewhere, there is extensive discussion about makeup and how Mrs. Doubtfire's camouflaging personality actually liberated Williams by containing his sprawling sense of comic freedom. Still, there was plenty of room for Williams to cut loose from the script and make up scenes as he went along.

Disc two has lots of examples of Williams winging it, scene-by-scene, the best of his many takes ultimately finding their way into the official feature. (Anyone who loves seeing Williams turn every take into a new adventure will thoroughly enjoy this feature.) Another bonus is a nice chunk of material about legendary animator Chuck Jones' involvement in Mrs. Doubtfire, creating a new cat-and-bird cartoon combo at Columbus' behest. Photo galleries, an original and still watchable 1993 featurette about the production, sundry trailers, publicity stills and insights from Field, Columbus, Williams, and co-star Pierce Brosnan round out this DVD set's auxiliary offerings. --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

The funniest movie around!!
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.

Great Movie for the Whole Family
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.

It's not widescreen
I ordered this thinking it's widescreen. Just got it. It's not widescreen. It's 1:33: 1 (fullscreen).

It's going back.