What’s Aged the Worst?
Disguise premises; early-90s working-mom character; runtime; 37 minutes before Mrs. Doubtfire appears; Dude Looks Like a Lady montage; indoor smoking; teen poster; theme-park score; bag left by the toilet
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:26Read transcript
- The internet ruined disguise-and-makeup plots: it is absurd that the family would not recognize Mrs. Doubtfire or that anyone would spend the daily makeup time, as with Tom Hanks's Boosom Buddies; why not just ask to watch the kids from three to seven?
- Counter: he does ask and she says no, apparently because he has proven unreliable, though she is written as a one-dimensional, hateful character.
- The early-90s working-mom character, with lines about corporate clones and an oddly corporate interior-decorating job, is an unflattering portrayal with no empathy for the mom, cast as the homework killjoy.
- She is called the only villain of the movie, working too hard and keeping the kids from a cool husband; it is a tough part for Sally Field, though she comes around at the end.
- At two hours and eight minutes the film is too long and a strong 90-minute contender; he does not become Mrs. Doubtfire until the 37-minute mark.
- The 'Dude Looks Like a Lady' montage; the song itself has not aged, compared with Pat on SNL.
- Cigarette smoking inside a studio is jarring.
- A teenage girl's poster (transcribed as 'YouTube') is raised as aging badly, likened to a moment in Taken.
- The score sounds like being on a Disney ride the whole time, even while the parents fight.
- Watching Madman and the Miami Vice TV show made smoking seem cool, conceding that on-screen smoking can influence viewers.
- Another aged-worst item: leaving the bag next to the toilet while switching back and forth; now the restaurant would be cleared out in two minutes.