RTTP: Mrs. Doubtfire is a depressing movie

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weepy

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I've must've watched this movie dozens of times growing up, but after watching it in my late 20's it made me realize how messed up divorce could really be. This is the only film I could think of where the main characters go through the process of a divorce (with children) without a last minute change of heart or reconciliation involving their coming back together. The separation is final through out the movie and what's crazy is this movie is suppose to be a comedy.
Not only that, we get to experience the straw that broke the camel's back in the Hillard's marriage, being Daniel's (Robin William) undermining his wife's authority and his inability to keep a stable job. When I was a kid, I always thought the wife was being an unfair bitch but as an adult I sympathize with her. And the way the kids were sucked into a lose/lose situation...
 
Yeah, it really seems depressing the way you put it. Off topic, but Dumb and Dumber is another very depressing comedy from my childhood. 2 grown guys that start off losers and end being lonely losers.
 
It feels like the kind of movie that's the sequel to a romantic comedy where the male protag, despite being an unreliable fuckup, wins over the girl in the end because he can make her laugh.

I also never understood why his employment situation was such a problem since they could afford to live in a ridiculous house regardless. I think she was just kicking him while he was down on that account.
 
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Ryck said:
Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ckv_Dz-Sio
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LOL!

Gentleman Jack said:
It feels like the kind of movie that's the sequel to a romantic comedy where the male protag, despite being an unreliable fuckup, wins over the girl in the end because he can make her laugh.

I also never understood why his employment situation was such a problem since they could afford to live in a ridiculous house regardless. I think she was just kicking him while he was down on that account.
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That...makes so much sense. But I kinda agree with Sally Field's character when it came to his employment situation. I think she paid for the house and everything and he wasn't as frugal with his money (the birthday party). Not to mention he lost his job due to his morals and it wasn't a given that he was employed immediately after.
 
It is depressing but in a very manipulative way. Sally Fields character is played super nice, but her actions are completely deplorable. There is no doubt that Williams was not a great responsible husband, but because of the "evil lawyer" character we are to believe that Sally Fields character is manipulated into shutting out her husband from the childrens life in order to justify the Mrs. Doubtfire character needing to exist.

It makes no sense unless she is cold hearted pure evil and actually has an axe to grind which is never actually shown in the film. It only works if she is a complete evil butthole, or Williams character is some sort of degenerate who is dangerous to the kids. I just cannot enjoy that film because they tried to make her character sympathetic while forcing the desperate actions of Williams character. Make her the devil and it makes sense. Or make the Williams character a cokehead nut trying to redeem himself and it makes sense. They cannot both be good reasonable people while the story plays out how it does.
 
I made the mistake of watching this film during my actual divorce (and child custody battle with my daughter)...fucking brutal. I didn't remember all this stuff watching the film as a kid lol. But the film took on an entirely new meaning to me watching it as not only an adult but, at the time, a husband and father going through divorce. Still one of my favorite movies but damn...
 
Gentleman Jack said:
It feels like the kind of movie that's the sequel to a romantic comedy where the male protag, despite being an unreliable fuckup, wins over the girl in the end because he can make her laugh.

I also never understood why his employment situation was such a problem since they could afford to live in a ridiculous house regardless. I think she was just kicking him while he was down on that account.
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I think it had much less to do with the lost job and more to do with the fact that she was supporting both of them and doing all the work at home.

If he'd been the sort of husband who didn't make a lot of money... but made the dinner and did the laundry, that would have been different. Or if he had been making the lion's share of the money so she didn't have to work full-time, that would have been different. But he was contributing very little and then making her life harder on top of that (the party was the final straw). You can tell from their interaction that they'd had this argument many times before and every time prior she forgave him and let him try again, but he just kept on fucking things up.

At some point, she had to let him go.

The irony is that after he has to become Mrs. Doubtfire, he starts becoming the sort of husband she needed all along, taking care of the domestic stuff so that she becomes less stressed about the sheer amount of work she would normally have to do. You can definitely see a change in her attitude over the course of the movie and she ends up far happier than she was at the beginning... just because she doesn't have to work a full day, come home to cook dinner, do laundry, clean the house, clean up her husband's messes, make the kids do their homework, and feel like a terrible person for trying to keep things in order.

I dunno. While I love all the characters in the movie, I have a really hard time villifying the wife here. I think I'd probably react much the same way.
 
I don't see how anyone could really sympathize with the wife.

The movie is designed to make you hate her like she was the Star Wars Emperor. Pure Evil!
 
"I am sorry, I just cannot feel comfortable having you around the kids if you find a petting zoo to be a suitable place for children."
 
The father has more of a role and better value to the family unit than as a partner in a financial agreement and a domestic situation. Western culture...well the rest of the world doesn't do much better...lets just say humanity misses the point on a lot of this shit.

If he's not an evil bastard or a dangerous threat, the whole 'shut him out because it's easier' situation is bullshit.
 
One of my favourite movies as a kid, and introduced me to the concept of divorce which I thought was one of the worst things that could happen to my parents. Well, 4 years after the films release my parents announced they were getting a divorce (I was 9). I knew exactly what it meant and I was incredibly upset, but as life went on I realised my situation wasn't all that bad. My parents did a great job sharing time seeing me and my sister, so I've always felt pretty lucky for that after knowing what it could be like from the movie.

Mum's boyfriend was a cunthole though.
 
Yeah, I've always hated the wife in this movie. Not so much for divorcing him, which is pretty decently justified when you take everything into account, but for the way she treated him during and after the divorce. I mean, if you just watch those courtroom scenes and visitation scenes and stuff, you would think Williams was beating the shit out of her and the kids daily.

No, he was just an immature man-child who became too annoying and dependent. Let the guy hang out with his kids for Christ's sake.
 
electr8r said:
Yeah, it really seems depressing the way you put it. Off topic, but Dumb and Dumber is another very depressing comedy from my childhood. 2 grown guys that start off losers and end being lonely losers.
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I was always terrified of ending up a "loser" as a kid, so movies like Dumb & dumber just filled me with anxious dread.
 
Calamari41 said:
Yeah, I've always hated the wife in this movie. Not so much for divorcing him, which is pretty decently justified when you take everything into account, but for the way she treated him during and after the divorce. I mean, if you just watch those courtroom scenes and visitation scenes and stuff, you would think Williams was beating the shit out of her and the kids daily.

No, he was just an immature man-child who became too annoying and dependent. Let the guy hang out with his kids for Christ's sake.
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You said it better then I ever could.
 
Um, the custody arrangement was because Robin William's character didn't have a job or a place to live, so he was allowed visitation rights once a week until he had a job and living arrangements after 90 days.

But Robin William's character couldn't wait 90 days because he's an immature dolt incapable of patience, so he pulled a bunch of bullshit and managed to lose all rights to seeing his children. His ex-wife took pity on him and allows him to see the kids anyway.
 
electr8r said:
Yeah, it really seems depressing the way you put it. Off topic, but Dumb and Dumber is another very depressing comedy from my childhood. 2 grown guys that start off losers and end being lonely losers.
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Now I can see Mrs Doubtfire being slightly depressing, though this story certainly isn't, but Dumb and Dumber?? I've seen the move 50+ times and never once did it come off as the least bit depressing, just hilarious. My oh my I have way too high of hopes for this sequel
 
Calamari41 said:
Yeah, I've always hated the wife in this movie. Not so much for divorcing him, which is pretty decently justified when you take everything into account, but for the way she treated him during and after the divorce. I mean, if you just watch those courtroom scenes and visitation scenes and stuff, you would think Williams was beating the shit out of her and the kids daily.

No, he was just an immature man-child who became too annoying and dependent. Let the guy hang out with his kids for Christ's sake.
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I agree, well said.

It came out only a few years before my own parents divorced and was one of my favorite childhood movies. Crazy because the movie is similar to what happened with my parents too.
 
I liked that Brosnan's character isn't a twat. But him fucking Sally Field? C'mon son. Perhaps in the 70's but that was a super mismatch on a physical level.
 
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