Back to trending
Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire

Comedy · Drama · Family · 1993

Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start.

Movie details

Mrs. Doubtfire

“She makes dinner. She does windows. She reads bedtime stories. She's a blessing... in disguise.”

1993 Comedy · Drama · Family 2h 5m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Mrs. Doubtfire?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Uncle Buck

Uncle Buck

Comedy · 1989

Buck Russell, a lovable but slovenly bachelor, suddenly becomes the temporary caretaker of his nephew and nieces after a family emergency. His freewheeling attitude soon causes tension with his older niece Tia, loyal girlfriend Chanice, and just about everyone else who crosses his path.

The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Great Gilly Hopkins

Comedy · 2015

Young and feisty Gilly Hopkins devises a scheme to escape from her new foster home and reunite with her birth mother.

Annie

Annie

Comedy · 1982

An orphan in a facility run by the mean Miss Hannigan, Annie believes that her parents left her there by mistake. When a rich man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks decides to let an orphan live at his home to promote his image, Annie is selected. While Annie gets accustomed to living in Warbucks' mansion, she still longs to meet her parents. So Warbucks announces a search for them and a reward, which brings out many frauds.

Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition

Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition

Animation · 2026

Homer and Marge's fun couples' date night goes off the rails when Marge learns Homer left the kids unsupervised with only the doorbell camera as a babysitter. Frustrated with her imperfect husband, a tipsy Marge stirs up a trilogy of fantasies of a different Homer.

Annie

Annie

Comedy · 2014

Annie is a young, happy foster kid who's also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they'd be back for her someday, it's been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan. But everything's about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks—advised by his brilliant VP and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor—makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he's her guardian angel, but Annie's self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it's the other way around.

Stage Mother

Stage Mother

Comedy · 2020

A conservative church-choir director moves from Texas to San Francisco to run her deceased gay son's drag club.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Comedy · 2002

In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.

It Runs in the Family

It Runs in the Family

Comedy · 2003

This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile

Tully

Tully

Comedy · 2018

Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.

Carbon Copy

Carbon Copy

Comedy · 1981

A middle-aged married wealthy white corporate executive is surprised to discover that he has a working-class black teen-age son who wants to be adopted into the almost-exclusively-white upper-middle-class community of San Marino, California.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Chris Columbus

Written by

Randi Mayem Singer · Leslie Dixon · Jeffrey Price · Peter S. Seaman

Robin Williams

Robin Williams

Daniel Hillard / Mrs. Doubtfire

Sally Field

Sally Field

Miranda Hillard

Lisa Jakub

Lisa Jakub

Lydia Hillard

Matthew Lawrence

Matthew Lawrence

Chris Hillard

Mara Wilson

Mara Wilson

Natalie Hillard

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan

Stu

Robert Prosky

Robert Prosky

Mr. Lundy

Court is in session

Put Mrs. Doubtfire on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.