Chris Columbus
Mrs. Doubtfire

The big house at 2640 Steiner Street was the first stop on my visit to San Francisco. And the passion for this film was already twenty-five years old.

I love cinema, and there are dozens of feature films I adore, but after exactly thirty years, “Mrs. Doubtfire” remains among my favorites. When a film and its lead actor move you every time as if it were the first, no further explanation is needed.

Robin Williams left us too soon after giving us so much. Seeing him again on the small screen every time means feeling that hint of melancholy already from the opening credits. Imagine what happens with the closing ones.

This timeless film is full of unique quotes (the dubbing doesn't dilute them at all, but it must be watched in the original language), hilarious moments, and immortal music. Since that February '94 (when it arrived in Italian theaters), pieces like “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” by Aerosmith, “Luck Be A Lady” by Sinatra, and “Jump Around” by House of Pain, among others, exclusively transport the mind and ears to the scenes they once accompanied.

Disguise is the true protagonist of the story, and the plot winks at “Tootsie” with the great Dustin Hoffman, where we find (again as the protagonist) a talented unemployed actor trying to make a living by adopting a new personal and gender identity. In Mrs. Doubtfire, the talented rebellious and (therefore) unemployed actor disguises himself as an elderly lady solely for the love of his children. Then, events, unwittingly and consequently, will ensure that the man also earns a deserved professional opportunity, precisely thanks to that disguise. How Daniel Hillard (alias Robin Williams) will achieve his goal is an integral part of the story.

Euphegenia Doubtfire jostles throughout the film with her alter ego and the viewer, who knows the two identities right away, can only root for father Daniel, hoping that the mask falls as late as possible. On the one hand, it's strange to laugh and make fun of a situation that is not at all comic or funny, given that a divorce is anything but a walk in the park, especially emotionally speaking; even more so when there are small children, who are unwittingly swept away by this whirlpool, which most often causes only damage. The skill of the story's authors and performers lies wholly in their ability to make the family man's actions hilarious, almost aware of being guilty of the marital drift, making him the architect of his revenge and redemption. All this without directly assigning blame to any spouse but leaving the interpretation of facts to the viewer. As the most cliché reflection would remind us: “From a bad comes a good.” And it's the sad family page that shakes things up and shifts the balances. Daniel Hillard, after the divorce from his wife Miranda (the brilliant Sally Field) and being kept away by court order from his three beloved children Natalie, Lydia, and Chris, manages to grow mentally, to mature in his relationship with others. This, without losing the perpetual youthful spirit, without stifling the Peter Pan inside him. And it will be precisely his supposed lightness, combined with imagination, that gives him the strength of mind necessary to exploit his acting talent to play an important role. What will ultimately be hard to make those who discover him understand, however, is the fact that his feelings were the only part extraneous to the act, the only real thing in that parallel world sweetened for the better and far from a desire to deceive.

The events show a crescendo both hilarious and exciting at the same time. Daniel's Trojan horse, or rather the mask of a distinguished lady from overseas, allows him to enter that deep part his wife had kept under lock and key for so long. The fuse lit by jealousy, when the wealthy and talented Stuart “Stu” Dunmeyer (Pierce Brosnan), returns after years into Miranda's life with serious intentions, threatening the domestic hearth, leads Daniel to allow himself “outings” on the edge of risk and the peak of hilarity, just to assert himself.

And between an evening course in home economics and a heavy (and ever unsatisfying) day deep in the television station's warehouse where he works, Daniel manages to pass the social worker's scrutiny, making her believe he shares the apartment with his sister. The scene's development is worthy of a Laurel and Hardy movie and forcefully evokes the intrusion of Dr. Randazzo in “Johnny Stecchino.”

The final scene of the film is one of the most comedic and memorable parentheses of Robin Williams' entire filmography. A sequence of wild events where our hero makes us enter a blender of emotions until we see the mask collapse, a mask we never wanted to see away from his face. That mask that will be his fortune but has been his downfall, despite us all liking it so much. A disguise that filters a reality to which the main door has been barred but that can resort to a secondary entrance. A plan B.

The film producers had planned a different ending from the one made, where Daniel and Miranda Hillard would get back together, making their three children happy. Then they thought about it and changed their minds, realizing that a happy ending would give false hopes to children of divorced parents.

A sequel was also planned. 20th Century Fox revealed its plans, which were soon aborted due to Williams' sudden death. Perhaps it was for the best, even though making it would have meant having Robin Williams still among us. Sequels and reboots are unsettling too many classics and cinema myths that should be untouchable. I don't know what you think about it.