41 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
41 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
i've never been a member of the robin williams fan club .
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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 .
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in his films , williams has often tried to balance his mania with touchy-feely emotion , leading to wildly uneven performances .
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mrs .
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doubtfire seemed ready-made for the same problems , but instead it proves to be williams' best comic screen project yet .
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while it still contains some characteristic self-indulgence , mrs .
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doubtfire is nonetheless an engaging belly-laugh comedy served up with high energy .
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williams stars as daniel hillard , a cartoon voiceover artist with a penchant for irresponsible behavior .
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one such incident proves one too many for wife miranda ( sally field ) , and she files for a divorce .
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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 .
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he turns to his brother frank ( harvey fierstein ) , a theatrical makeup artist , and emerges as euphegenia doubtfire , a matronly 65-year-old englishwoman .
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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 .
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mrs . doubtfire has to overcome a mountain of implausibilities to work , and basically it does so .
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the most crucial is that no one in the family recognizes daniel , and thanks to the fantastic special makeup that's instantly believable .
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it may be one of the most convincing transformations ever committed to film , making dustin hoffman's dorothy michaels look like milton berle .
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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 doesn't recognize any of the voices as her husband's .
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perhaps the biggest contrivance we're asked to swallow is that daniel could make a quick change into mrs . doubtfire in a few minutes .
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there's more to realistic makeup than slapping on a latex mask .
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fortunately , these are inconsistencies which only attract attention as the credits roll .
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during the film , i was generally too busy laughing .
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after getting off to a slow start involving too much of williams' riffing , mrs .
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doubtfire kicks into high gear once the wig and pads are in place .
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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 .
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clearly , most of the credit for doubtfire's success goes to robin williams .
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it took putting him in drag , but for once he plays a comic character that isn't just robin williams with a different name .
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he thoroughly inhabits euphegenia doubtfire , and seems to relish the scenes in which he gets to play her as blunt and foul-mouthed .
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wisely , he never aims for saintly .
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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 .
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it's one of mrs .
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doubtfire's charms that neither daniel nor miranda is perfect , just people trying to be better .
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as miranda , sally field is solid in a background role , and pierce brosnan is nicely understated as stu .
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the children are also good , although mara wilson is almost oppressively cute as the youngest .
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the supporting players merely step aside and allow williams to do his thing .
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it's easy to see mrs .
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doubtfire as little more than tootsie warmed over , and it's true that there are both broad themes and specific details in common .
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but mrs .
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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 .
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there's nothing dazzlingly new in mrs .
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doubtfire , but there are plenty of laughs , and good comedies are always in short supply .
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and it's nice to see robin williams just act for a change .
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