Amazon.com Essentials:
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
