MRS. DOUBTFIRE

Robin Williams is the reason to watch this at all. He carries the whole picture — the movie leans on him because, by the source's account, Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan feel out of place in it. There's real heart buried here too: a father fighting to stay close to his kids, and a script that wants to say something true about how much both parents matter.

But the cost is real. The film teaches a five-year-old to curse. It plays cross-dressing for laughs without ever engaging the discomfort Scripture names directly. And it treats a homosexual relationship as simply normal, no questions asked. The comedy itself is only "somewhat funny," which makes the tradeoff harder to justify for a family evening.

This is one for grown-ups to watch on their own terms, at home, with eyes open — not a pick for the kids.

Daniel Hillard loses his acting job and his marriage on the same day. When the court awards custody of his children to his ex-wife, Daniel — with help from his brother — transforms himself into "Mrs. Doubtfire," an English nanny, so he can answer his ex-wife's help-wanted ad and stay close to his kids. Getting hired is only the beginning of his trouble.

The source calls this four stars, and Williams is the reason: he's asked to carry an entire movie, and he does. That's the whole case for the rating.

The rest is thinner. The source itself calls the film only "somewhat funny" and says it "fails to develop its potential." Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan reportedly feel out of place, leaving Williams to do most of the heavy lifting alone. It's a comedy that runs on one performance rather than a fully realized script.

The film wants credit for something good: a message about how much both parents matter, and about a father's love for his children refusing to be shut out. That instinct is worth honoring, and it's the best thing here.

But the vehicle undercuts the message. A man dressing as a woman to deceive his ex-wife and the courts is played entirely for laughs, with no acknowledgment of the discomfort Scripture names plainly: "A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this" (Deuteronomy 22:5). Alongside that, a homosexual relationship is presented as simply natural, without comment — a quiet normalization rather than an argument. And a five-year-old is taught profanity onscreen, which is its own small betrayal of the film's stated concern for children.

What the film gets right is the ache underneath it: a father who will not let go of his kids, a family that discovers, almost too late, how much it needs him. That longing is real and biblical. Scripture speaks of God himself as the one who "settles the solitary in a home" and is "a father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5–6) — the deeper answer to the very hunger this film only half-names.

Robin Williams gives this film everything he has, and the source is right to credit him for it. But a funny performance isn't the same as a film worth building family movie night around — not with a child taught to curse, a homosexual relationship presented as unremarkable, and a premise Scripture speaks against directly. Our answer: wait for home — adults only. Looking for something the whole family can watch together instead? Start here:.