i 've never been a member of the robin williams fan club .
a little bit of his improvisationaly schtick goes a long way , and i sometimes feel as though i 'm watching a 40-year - old class clown .
in his films , williams has often tried to balance his mania with touchy - feely emotion , leading to wildly uneven performances .
mrs .
doubtfire seemed ready - made for the same problems , but instead it proves to be williams ' best comic screen project yet .
while it still contains some characteristic self - indulgence , mrs .
doubtfire is nonetheless an engaging belly - laugh comedy served up with high energy .
williams stars as daniel hillard , a cartoon voiceover artist with a penchant for irresponsible behavior .
one such incident proves one too many for wife miranda ( sally field ) , and she files for a divorce .
unemployed , living in a disastrously unkempt apartment and faced with limited time with his three beloved children , daniel decides to respond to miranda 's ad for an afternoon housekeeper .
he turns to his brother frank ( harvey fierstein ) , a theatrical makeup artist , and emerges as euphegenia doubtfire , a matronly 65-year - old englishwoman .
daniel uses his access to the house to keep an eye on miranda 's flirtation with a wealthy client ( pierce brosnan ) , to spend time with the children , and to learn something about responsible parenting , all the while trying to keep his identity hidden from the people who know him best .
mrs .
doubtfire has to overcome a mountain of implausibilities to work , and basically it does so .
the most crucial is that no one in the family recognizes daniel , and thanks to the fantastic special makeup that 's instantly believable .
it may be one of the most convincing transformations ever committed to film , making dustin hoffman 's dorothy michaels look like milton berle .
more problematic was a series of calls daniel makes to miranda posing as nannies from hell ; it 's a bit hard to swallow that she does n't recognize any of the voices as her husband 's .
perhaps the biggest contrivance we 're asked to swallow is that daniel could make a quick change into mrs .
doubtfire in a few minutes .
there 's more to realistic makeup than slapping on a latex mask .
fortunately , these are inconsistencies which only attract attention as the credits roll .
during the film , i was generally too busy laughing .
after getting off to a slow start involving too much of williams ' riffing , mrs .
doubtfire kicks into high gear once the wig and pads are in place .
daniel 's frantic attempt to fool a court officer is wonderful , as is the climactic restaurant sequence , even though i saw the resolutions coming a mile away .
clearly , most of the credit for doubtfire 's success goes to robin williams .
it took putting him in drag , but for once he plays a comic character that is n't just robin williams with a different name .
he thoroughly inhabits euphegenia doubtfire , and seems to relish the scenes in which he gets to play her as blunt and foul - mouthed .
wisely , he never aims for saintly .
his responses to the intrusion of new suitor stu are often petty , but the kind of thing most of us might do with the benefit of anonymity .
it 's one of mrs .
doubtfire 's charms that neither daniel nor miranda is perfect , just people trying to be better .
as miranda , sally field is solid in a background role , and pierce brosnan is nicely understated as stu .
the children are also good , although mara wilson is almost oppressively cute as the youngest .
the supporting players merely step aside and allow williams to do his thing .
it 's easy to see mrs .
doubtfire as little more than tootsie warmed over , and it 's true that there are both broad themes and specific details in common .
but mrs .
doubtfire manages to carve out its own space , particularly through the surprisingly honest moments involving a judge 's decision and the ultimate status of daniel and miranda 's relationship .
there 's nothing dazzlingly new in mrs .
doubtfire , but
there are plenty of laughs , and good comedies are always in short supply .
and it 's nice to see
robin williams just act for a change .
Output: P