Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars, saying it is not as amusing as the premise and that there were long stretches when he had had quite enough of Mrs. Doubtfire.
Ebert said Tootsie grew out of real wit and insight while this film has the values and depth of a sitcom; the reading draws a 'Come on' reaction.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Double duty at the dinner; pool scene run-by fruiting; cartoon voice-booth opening and the house party

In the discussion (12)

Approx. transcript time · 00:40:36Read transcript

The job interview where he does all the voices is enjoyed as a case of turning the cameras on and letting Robin Williams go, probably filmed for hours.
The fake calls Daniel makes to undermine other applicants for the maid job, using different voices, are also enjoyed.
Williams is called probably the best any-voice comedian of the last 40 years; the distinct Mrs. Doubtfire voice, saying 'dear' with an English accent, is like the best version ever of an SNL sketch.
The scene of Harvey Firestein creating Mrs. Doubtfire is praised; Harvey, also in Independence Day, is called an icon, and John Levitz used to do a Harvey impression on SNL.
The frosting scene with the apartment lady is floated as a possible pick; the icing melting off was reportedly caused by set heat, and the setup recalls Three's Company misunderstanding plots.
Sally Field's character telling Mrs. Doubtfire she is better without Daniel is an intense, well-written scene: the wife explains everything wrong with the marriage to her disguised husband.
The stated pick is the double duty at the dinner, an absurd scene that works, with bathroom costume changes and teeth falling into the wine glass (reportedly ad-libbed); it runs 12 or 13 minutes and nobody pays for the dinner.
The family watching the first Mrs. Doubtfire show is called undeniably poignant.
Adds two: presenting catered food as a home-cooked dinner, which seemed the peak of luxury as a child, and the emotional final speech about love. — Amanda Dobbins
Asked for a pick, the run-by fruiting is offered and the pool scene is called the single best scene in the movie: it swerves expectations with the Brosnan character while making him more likable, with Daniel hiding behind the plant.
Picks the opening, with Daniel voicing cartoons in the booth at full Robin Williams and quitting over the smoking bird, showing he is a caring dad with morals; also likes the house party with a pony inside. — Shea Serrano
The party also features House of Pain and two three-year-olds jumping on the couch in a sugar coma.

What’s Aged the Best?

Party scene; opening credits; non-ironic Jump Around; no sequel; grim divorced-dad apartment; pre-internet San Francisco; anti-smoking PSA

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 00:49:25Read transcript

Two aged-best items carried over from the scenes: the party scene for its early-90s over-the-top quality, and the opening credits.
'Jump Around' used non-ironically in a movie, perhaps for the last time before it became ironic.
No sequel ages well; attempts ran from about 2000 to 2014, but Williams refused unless the script made sense and then passed away.
A sequel about the Mrs. Doubtfire TV show becoming successful would probably have been bad, the kids would be older, and as Mary Poppins 2 shows you only need one magical family-saving movie.
The grim divorced-dad apartment, with a mousetrap in the middle of the floor, is a classic divorce trope, and the apartment gets remade.
A personal divorced-dad apartment had ant traps and a couch bled on after a Bruins loss, not replaced for six months.
The apartment is both a trope and realistic, since a dad moving out grabs the cheapest place and stuff; it closes with a shout-out to the speaker's dad.
Pre-internet San Francisco, likened to Boston on the West Coast, is the final pick and leads into a separate category.
The anti-smoking PSA the Robin Williams character inserts in the first scene is offered as a flip side that has aged well.

Greatest San Francisco Movie/TV House of All Time

Party of Five house; Alcatraz from The Rock

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 00:52:52Read transcript

Six nominees: the Mrs. Doubtfire house, Full House, the Pacific Heights house (three stories on a hill), the Party of Five house, That's So Raven (offered for Shea), and the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers house of Donald Sutherland.
The Party of Five house is declared a pick.
40 Days and 40 Nights is floated as possibly set in San Francisco.
The house from David Fincher's The Game is added, with a top-five movie kitchen, and Full House is echoed for teaching about San Francisco.
Research found the Mrs. Doubtfire house on every famous-houses list; it became a tourist attraction where flowers were left after Williams died, and Williams also owned an iconic San Francisco house on landmark lists.
A pick claimed to beat both others: Alcatraz from The Rock, to own and live in; it is called a great choice.

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.

Casting What-Ifs

Tim Allen; Blake Lively

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:03:10Read transcript

Tim Allen, then perhaps the biggest TV star in the world, was offered both Mrs. Doubtfire/Daniel and the Pierce Brosnan role and rejected both.
Without Robin Williams's voices the tricky premise would not work; with Tim Allen audiences would say absolutely not.
Asked which Tim Allen casting would be worse, the Pierce Brosnan role is chosen, though the movie cannot work with him as Mrs. Doubtfire either.
Mara Wilson, who was in a Ringer Films documentary (transcribed 'ShowBiscuits'), won the little girl's role over Blake Lively; she is called electric, with the line reading of the decade.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Polly Holliday

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:05:02Read transcript

Polly Holliday, Flo from Alice, plays the annoyed next-door neighbor who complains about the party; many of her scenes were cut, and she is a that guy slash gal whose face is instantly recognizable.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Sally Field

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:05:30Read transcript

No huge overactor stood out at first.
Picks Sally Field reluctantly: the material is terrible, but she leans into the frustrated working mom and yells a lot, as judged by a connoisseur of parents fighting in movies. — Amanda Dobbins
Another participant will 'sign off on that' pick.
Whether Robin Williams is eligible is raised; he is just being Robin Williams, no replacement could be conceived, and he has inherent vulnerability, eyes that water on command and a rubbery face.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Mara Wilson

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:06:57Read transcript

Candidates named are Pierce Brosnan, the horny bus driver, and Robert Prosky, who is having a great run on the Rewatchables lately.
Mara Wilson is the pick as the best kid of the three.
Agrees Mara Wilson is the pick, as a big fan. — Shea Serrano
Matthew Lawrence of Boy Meets World is praised but not nominated as the favorite Lawrence brother; Jonathan Taylor Thomas is proposed over Tim Allen as the Home Improvement pick for the movie.

Recasting Couch

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:07:59Read transcript

The Sally Field part is recast since the movie wasted her talents: someone 35 to 42 with 80s cachet, as with Terry Guard in Mr. Mom, maybe not a major star.
Kathleen Turner is floated and called not bad.
But the role is not wished on anyone liked, so it goes to a random person who needed the job.

Half-Assed Internet Research

2640 Steiner Street; Williams in costume around San Francisco; cut neighbor scenes; eight-piece makeup; real childhood nanny; 'dear' count; cast divorces; Lisa Jakub's expulsion

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:09:07Read transcript

The house is at 2640 Steiner Street; stories say Williams walked through San Francisco as Mrs. Doubtfire, including buying sex toys at a sex shop to see what he could get away with; 30 minutes of deleted scenes with the nosy neighbor were cut.
A prosthetic mask was a prop; the real makeup was eight separate pieces taking four to five hours; the character drew on Williams's real British childhood nanny, Lolly.
How many times the word deer (dear) is said in this movie: 29 times, 38 and 101 are offered.
Sally Field was going through a divorce while filming, and Williams later divorced his wife to marry the nanny.
Lisa Jacob, who played the oldest daughter, took five months off her Toronto school and was expelled; Williams wrote asking them to reverse it, and they framed the letter instead.

Apex Mountain

Pierce Brosnan's chest hair; Pierce Brosnan in a bathing suit; Chris Columbus; old-school San Francisco houses; divorce comedies

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 01:10:56Read transcript

A case is made that Robin Williams is at Apex Mountain: coming off a six-year run with five top-10 movies, maybe never a bigger star than in 1993, with a huge comedy that is not recognizable IP.
His Good Will Hunting Oscar is probably the last conceivable Apex Mountain, though this may be where he had tremendous success and still had options.
Only Jurassic Park made more domestically in 1993, ahead of The Fugitive, The Firm, Sleepless in Seattle, The Pelican Brief, Schindler's List, Cliffhanger and Groundhog Day; 1993 is called a great movie year.
Pro Last Action Here: it came 20 years too early but is great to watch. — Shea Serrano
Sally Field: no. Pierce Brosnan: no. Addendum: Brosnan's chest hair, yes; Brosnan in a bathing suit, yes.
Tries to recall Brosnan in a bathing suit in the Bond movies and The Thomas Crown Affair, and plans to keep replaying those scenes. — Amanda Dobbins
Chris Columbus: yes, after Home Alone, Home Alone 2 and this film's $441 million; he could make whatever he wanted, then tailed off.
Old-school San Francisco houses: yes, on a run with Pacific Heights, Full House and this movie.
Divorce comedies: yes, the main reference point in the 90s.

Picking Nits

Kitchen fight within the kids' earshot; no babysitting chance; no alias planned; Brosnan's character choosing a divorced mom; college breakup; her hair and clothes; kids watching Dick Van Dyke

In the discussion (8)

Approx. transcript time · 01:14:36Read transcript

No divorcing parents would fight in the kitchen where the kids can overhear; you always go in the car.
She should have given the dad one more chance to babysit from three to seven before hiring the maid.
Daniel had no name planned when calling about the job and took Doubtfire from the newspaper; he could have come up with Evelyn.
Counter: Daniel is established as disorganized and not thinking ahead, though a more concrete strategy would help.
Would Brosnan's character really settle on a divorced mom with three kids? They are meant to have dated in college, with her dumping him, itself a nit; maybe he is putting away the bachelor lifestyle.
He probably realized over an expensive brown drink that he needed the one woman who loved him before he was rich and handsome.
Her hair and clothes are atrocious; the reply places the bob in early-90s working-woman style in line with the Nora F Ron and Nancy Myers yuppie look.
Kids watching Dick Van Dyke is implausible for a 14-year-old; pushback cites Nick at Night, where Mork & Mindy was seen, plus Green Acres and Mr. Ed.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:17:16Read transcript

No; initially answered 'I don't think so', then: this should not even have been a two-hour-and-eight-minute movie, let alone 10 episodes. — Shea Serrano
No: the central premise cannot be updated and is very much of 1993. — Amanda Dobbins

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Did she ever like Daniel?; Does she end up with Brosnan's character?; Was the pepper attack attempted murder?; Could you tamper with restaurant entrees?

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:18Read transcript

Did she ever like Daniel? Everything likable about him she hates; perhaps years of his job failures made her see him as a loser.
They are caught at the end of a relationship in which she could no longer count on him; her surprise at his clean apartment signals he was a disaster, yet the movie makes us root for him over her, like a Jedi mind trick.
He is meant to get his life together, learning homework, schedules, cleaning and parenting; they probably made sense as a couple in their 20s before kids.
Does she end up with Pierce Brosnan? It feels like four endings were filmed; why would they break up, unless he left after the shrimp-choking incident?
Was Mrs. Doubtfire's pepper attack attempted murder, and should she have gone to jail?
Could you waltz into a kitchen and tamper with the entrees? The kitchen seemed to have a different cook for each table.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

The house; pool club membership; the pony

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:21:21Read transcript

The house is the pick, with the mask as a possible second choice.
A membership to the pool club with drinks at the bar; research identifies it as the Claremont Club and Spa, believed north of Berkeley and since renovated.
If someone takes the house, the pony is claimed instead.

Who Won the Movie?

Robin Williams

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:22:36Read transcript

Robin Williams: 'I think we would all say Robin Williams', affirmed with 'It's got to be him.'

Podcast choices

Speaker not identified: Robin Williams

More from the conversation

A Ringer network plug and a trailer cold open precede the introductions and the framing of the film as one of the stealth divorce movies of the last 50 years.

Approx. transcript time · 00:01:26Read transcript

The film was the second most successful movie of 1993 at $441 million; Variety reported it was the most shown movie on cable in 2013, 66 times, and for people under 35 it is framed as the number one Robin Williams movie.

Approx. transcript time · 00:02:23Read transcript

A personal Robin Williams Mount Rushmore, promised while asking whether this is the Williams movie that has endured, is Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets, The World According to Garp (the first time seeing him as someone other than Mork), and a tie for fourth between Good Morning, Vietnam and Mrs. Doubtfire; Mrs. Doubtfire aged differently than Good Morning, Vietnam, which earned a Best Actor nomination, because its family element kept it going.

Approx. transcript time · 00:02:23Read transcript

A deadpan joke answer (One Hour Photo, Insomnia, What Dreams May Come) gives way to calling it a big family movie, with Aladdin preferred; this and Good Morning, Vietnam are the two movies that simply unleashed Williams.

Approx. transcript time · 00:02:40Read transcript

Mrs. Doubtfire is called the most complete Robin Williams experience: the voice work and manic energy of Aladdin plus the emotion of the final TV speech, bridging to Good Will Hunting.

Approx. transcript time · 00:03:29Read transcript

Williams's run is laid out: five top-10 grossers (Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire), three Oscar nominations and three Best Picture movies, plus Cadillac Man, Dead Again and Toys; he rarely comes up in biggest-star debates.

Approx. transcript time · 00:05:24Read transcript

Williams felt less like a movie star than a guy you wanted to hang out with; he is called underrated as an actor, possibly because he made emotions legible to kids and played overgrown kids, as in Jack.

Approx. transcript time · 00:06:27Read transcript

A Williams backlash is traced through Being Human, Jack, What Dreams May Come and Patch Adams, Jakob the Liar and Bicentennial Man, then darker 2002 turns in One Hour Photo, Death to Smoochy and Insomnia.

Approx. transcript time · 00:08:44Read transcript

Defends the later films: Williams resembles the speaker's dad, and What Dreams May Come and Patch Adams were formative and enjoyed even if probably terrible.

Approx. transcript time · 00:09:59Read transcript

Liking every Williams movie is compared to liking every Tim Duncan season; seeing the Insomnia trailer reveal Williams as the killer was an unbelievable movie moment.

Approx. transcript time · 00:11:24Read transcript

Talk-show overexposure fed the backlash, and his death prompted a guilty reevaluation; Sandler's backlash is contrasted.

Approx. transcript time · 00:12:19Read transcript

Outgrowing Williams for R-rated movies after Good Will Hunting is judged ungenerous in hindsight.

Approx. transcript time · 00:13:19Read transcript

Mork & Mindy was a top show around 1979-80; Popeye, Garp, The Survivors, Moscow on the Hudson, The Best of Times and Club Paradise made a choppy early 80s before Good Morning, Vietnam began a seven-year run; he is called a unicorn.

Approx. transcript time · 00:14:42Read transcript

Tributes after his death came too late, comedy did not evolve to serve him after Good Will Hunting, and three movies a year burned out his audience.

Approx. transcript time · 00:16:18Read transcript

The episode was prompted by a Chris Columbus interview about an NC-17 cut of the film because of Williams's improv; he later clarified it could have been rated R.

Approx. transcript time · 00:17:59Read transcript

The film was reportedly supposed to be a lot darker, a real divorce movie with an unhappy ending.

Approx. transcript time · 00:18:27Read transcript

The film is unhappy enough: it is the millennials' Kramer vs. Kramer and a personal touchstone for understanding divorce, with parents fighting in front of the kids.

Approx. transcript time · 00:18:58Read transcript

Hoped the parents would get back together even on rewatch, but likes that they do not.

Approx. transcript time · 00:20:06Read transcript

A cut scene, reportedly on YouTube, showed the kids crying during another fight and Lydia and Christopher telling their parents they hate them.

Approx. transcript time · 00:20:20Read transcript

Kid-divorce movies versus adult ones: this is called the apex of the kid divorce movie, with comparisons to Kramer vs. Kramer, Marriage Story, The Squid and the Whale, Stepmom, The Parent Trap, Irreconcilable Differences, Heartburn and First Wives Club.

Approx. transcript time · 00:21:36Read transcript

The Godfather Part II is pitched as the darkest divorce movie ever; Stepmom is called watchable but not a good movie.

Approx. transcript time · 00:24:30Read transcript

Chris Columbus said Williams did 15 to 22 takes per scene with two or three cameras; the improv is one reason the film is not seen as a divorce movie.

Approx. transcript time · 00:25:27Read transcript

Pierce Brosnan lost James Bond to his Remington Steele contract and hit a drought; this film is an essential Brosnan text setting up Bond, The Thomas Crown Affair remake and Mamma Mia.

Approx. transcript time · 00:27:20Read transcript

Brosnan's character is made likable rather than the usual handsome jerk, and the couple is rooted for; he is too handsome to compete with.

Approx. transcript time · 00:29:12Read transcript

Sally Field's career: Smokey and the Bandit, Norma Rae, a 90s run including Forrest Gump, the Steel Magnolias funeral scene, two Oscars and Lincoln; she got stuck in mom roles.

Approx. transcript time · 00:30:21Read transcript

A $25 million budget made $441 million; it won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Golden Globes for Williams and Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy; it is based on Anne Fine's 1987 novel Alias Madame Doubtfire and directed by Chris Columbus after Home Alone 1 and 2.

Approx. transcript time · 00:32:15Read transcript

Would this be made in 2021? The drag premise as something to laugh at is no longer comedy, and parts are openly transphobic even if unintended.

Approx. transcript time · 00:33:54Read transcript

An article, The Pain of Revisiting Mrs. Doubtfire, ties scenes to real-world violence against trans people and the Brandon Teena murder, and concludes that the film's datedness should be celebrated.

Approx. transcript time · 00:35:27Read transcript

Other dated Rewatchables such as Taxi Driver and 48 Hrs. are compared; a remake might still happen with far more care about the premise.

Approx. transcript time · 00:37:18Read transcript

A stage musical, delayed by the pandemic and possibly headed to Broadway, worked with GLAAD to steer away from harmful tropes.

Approx. transcript time · 00:38:01Read transcript

These movies are snapshots of what people thought was funny; Tootsie feels more overt, and the bathroom scene is the one that would not be done that way in 2021.

Approx. transcript time · 00:39:15Read transcript

Robin Williams rankings: this performance is not super high; Good Will Hunting is the favorite and Jack is way up the list.

Approx. transcript time · 01:22:36Read transcript

Jack is jokingly attributed to Scorsese before it is confirmed as a Francis Ford Coppola movie.

Approx. transcript time · 01:23:26Read transcript

Jack is argued over as a title: named after a character like Forrest Gump or John Wick, but a plain name that is hard to Google.

Approx. transcript time · 01:24:09Read transcript

The $441 million gross in 1993 is compared to Avengers: Endgame today, and it is still surprising there was no sequel.

Approx. transcript time · 01:24:59Read transcript

A future Thomas Crown Affair episode with the two guests is announced for a couple of weeks later.

Approx. transcript time · 01:25:19Read transcript

A late participant is invited in and recalls the film as a huge childhood movie alongside Home Alone and The Sandlot, the defining Williams film, and a cable and VCR staple for under-35 viewers.

Approx. transcript time · 01:25:30Read transcript

An unmentioned highlight: Mrs. Doubtfire ribbing Brosnan's character the whole movie, including at the restaurant.

Approx. transcript time · 01:26:29Read transcript