Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
I’m going to try something different in terms of doing quick movie reviews. Rather than do individual reviews, I’m going to do quick reviews on two or three films I’ve seen on Disney+ in the space of a couple or a few weeks. This is a new segment on my blog that I’d like to call the Disney+ Roundup, 🙂
Let’s start things off in January by taking a look at two movies I’ve seen on Disney+ that have the late Robin Williams as the main star. First, there’s ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’, a 1993 comedy-drama film starring Robin Williams as Daniel Hillard. He dresses up as the old lady Mrs. Doubtfire to interact with his children.
This film focuses on the themes of divorce and separation and how they affect a family, especially when Daniel Hillard becomes a divorced father who dresses up as a female housekeeper in order to interact with his children. ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ is one of those films that I wasn’t very keen on as a kid. 😐
This was because of the divorce/separation themes that I was introduced to. Over the years and having seen this film recently on Disney+, I’ve grown to appreciate what the film’s story and characters are about. I’ve also enjoyed Robin Williams’ antics as Daniel when dressing up as a woman.
The film also features Sally Field (who would later play Aunt May in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ movies with Andrew Garfield) as Miranda Hillard, who becomes Daniel’s ex-wife. There’s also Pierce Brosnan (well-known for playing James Bond-007) as Stu, who is Miranda’s potential boyfriend here.
There are also the three children Lisa Jakub as Lydia, Matthew Lawrence as Chris and Mara Wilson as Natalie. Mara Wilson would go on to play Matilda in the 1996 film. This is Mara Wilson’s first film role, I believe. Out of the five movies Mara Wilson has done, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ is my least favourite. 😐
There’s Harvey Fierstein as Frank, Daniel’s brother who helps him to become Mrs. Doubtfire, and Robert Prosky as Jonathan Lundy. Anne Haney (who I’ve seen in ‘Liar Lair’ with Jim Carrey as well as two ‘Star Trek’ episodes from ‘TNG’ and ‘DS9’) plays Mrs. Sellner, who I enjoyed seeing in this film. 🙂
The second film I saw with Robin Williams on Disney+ recently was ‘Flubber’, a 1997 sci-fi comedy film that is actually a remake of the 1961 film ‘The Absent-Minded Professor’. I saw ‘Flubber’ on the big screen when it was released in 1997. It was good to revisit this film and recall my memories of it.
‘Flubber’ is one of those zany films you either like or dislike. I personally have a soft spot for it. The film is directed by Les Mayfield, who also directed 1994’s ‘Miracle on 34th Street’. It was co-written by John Hughes, who did the first three ‘Home Alone’ films as well as 1994’s ‘Miracle on 34th Street’.
The film has Robin Williams star as Professor Philip Brainard, a scientist who creates a green gooey energy substance called Flubber that he hopes will help to save a college. As well as making people bounce up and down very high in the air, he also geta his vintage Ford Thunderbird to fly sky high. 🙂
The ‘Back to the Future’ movies did that first with flying cars, I’m afraid. 😀 Robin Williams’ Professor Brainard also tries to win the heart of his fiancée Marcia Gay Harden as Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds, who he let down three times for not turning up at their wedding. She does forgive Brainard eventually. 🙂
There’s also Christopher McDonald (who I’ve seen in ‘Monkey Trouble’, ‘Spy Kids 2’ and a ‘Star Trek: TNG’ episode) as Wilson Croft, Brainard’s rival. There’s also Weebo, Brianard’s robot assistant, voiced by Jodi Benson, who is well-known for voicing Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’, its sequels and TV show. 🙂
There’s Raymond J. Barry as Chester Hoenicker, Clancy Brown (who I’ve seen in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’) and Ted Levine as Wesson. Wil Wheaton is also in this movie as Bennett Hoenicker. Wil Wheaton is well-known for playing Wesley Crusher in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Amazing to find him here. 😀
It’s been nice to revisit these two movies featuring Robin Williams on Disney+ recently. I enjoyed ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ more than I enjoyed ‘Flubber’. Both are entertaining in their own ways, but ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ is more serious in how it addresses its themes compared to ‘Flubber’, since that’s so zany.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
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