Robin Williams Tribute Month: Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

It's an accomplishment for any actor to create a truely memorable character. But it's even more astounding to have a male actor playing a male actor create a memorable female character. That's right, I'm talking about the ultimate 'Act-ception' movie, Mrs. Doubtfire.

The classic 90s comedy from Chris Columbus is still as fresh as ever, managing to keep me laughing in stitches all the way through, even on the one-millionth viewing. I dare say it has some of the most hilarious lines and funniest montages in history, and watching Robin Williams dressed as an elderly Scottish nanny beating a criminal away with her handbag never gets old.

Many would consider this to be Robin Williams best film. I think if you treat his comedic and his dramatic performances seperately then this quite probably is the best comedy he every did, but as we've found out over the tribute month, he starred in a wide array of classics. However this could well have been one of the most challenging roles for him. Consider yourself as a short hairy American male wearing a huge body suit, women's clothes, makeup and putting on a pretty damn convincing Scottish (though she claims to be English) female accent, whilst still managing to give an outstanding performance and you'll understand Williams' feat in this movie.

This is one of those hilarious films that you don't complain about when your local TV station plays it every two weeks, because it's so accessable and never, ever seems to get old. I grew up watching this film, and I intend to grow old watching it too. It's another perfect example of the energetic, yet incredibly authentic performances that defined the career of Robin Williams.

Ed

Like with rewatching Aladdin, revisiting this movie had me in stitches. I think Williams was at the peak of his popularity, or he was just very skilled, but this period of his acting career was amazing. Maybe it's because those two movies relied so heavily on his ability as a voice actor.

A lot of this movie's greatest scenes come from Williams interactions with the other characters whilst in makeup. His insane passive-aggression toward Pierce Brosnan is hilarious and tense. His relationship with Sally Field is heartfelt and genuine. He also is a loving father who cares for his kids like the world would be nothing without them.

My favourite scenes would probably be when he interacts with his court liaison (played by Polly Holliday), both in and out of costumes. When he explains the idea of doing voices, I was laughing, but when he was making her tea as Mrs Doubtfire, I was rolling on the floor laughing.

This movie is full of pop culture references, alluding to everything from Dirty Harry to Looney Tunes. Robin Williams even says a James Bond line to the next James Bond, Pierce Brosnan.

This movie was a staple of my childhood and I love it just as much now as I did back then. This is the perfect movie to end our Robin Williams month with. I hope everyone reading this goes back and watches not just this movie, but all the ones he was in.

Jack

Robin Williams Tribute Month: Bicentennial Man (1999)

Bicentennial Man was one of Williams' movies that wasn't that well received when it came out, but there is something about it (like Jack) that struck a chord with me when I first watched it that still resonates with me today.

One day, the Martin family get a delivery of a new serving android, whom they call Andrew (Robin Williams). Over time, they come to realise that Andrew is a special robot, who is able to feel and convey emotions, something which he shouldn't be able to do. Andrew's owner, Richard (Sam Neill), takes Andrew to the company where he was constructed. Instead of taking Andrew to study him, the head of the company suggests that they reprogram him. Time passes and the family grow older. Andrew eventually decides to look for similar robots like him and comes across Rupert Burns (Oliver Platt). Together they work on making Andrew more like a human, both in features and internal workings. After a long time away, Andrew returns and meets Richard's great-granddaughter, Portia Embeth Davidtz), who he falls in love with.

Robin Williams' performance in this movie is really fun. It evolves from an extremely robotic to a regular human being. Watching him misunderstand human emotions is extremely fun. He has incredible chemistry with Embeth Davidtz, who also plays Richard Martin's daughter, Amanda or "Little Miss". Sam Neill is also a pleasure to watch in this movie as a man who is incredibly tolerant of his 'property'.

Thematically this movie is all over the place. It touches on concepts such as humanity, slavery, prejudice, maturity, love, intellectual freedom, conformity and sex. Whilst these all may have worked well in Isaac Asimov's novel, for a film that is a lot to cover, especially a family movie.

The theme of slavery and humanity are probably the most prevalent of themes. Andrew eventually is granted freedom by his master and obtains the right to die. These themes have been and are still important in today's world.

Verdict: A good family film that suffers slightly from having too much content.

John Hughes Movie: Home Alone (1990)

I don't understand why this kid's family all hate him so much. Even his own mother. No wonder he's so happy that he gets left behind when his family goes overseas for Christmas.

Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) and his family are set to travel for the holidays, but the night before they go, power in the neighbourhood goes down and they oversleep. In the rush to get ready in the morning, they leave behind Kevin, who quickly adapts to life without them. Operating in the same area are thieves the "wet bandits", Marv (Daniel Stern) and Harry (Joe Pesci). The have targeted the McCallister household after casing the house at the beginning of the movie. Kevin finds this out and sets up a series of deadly Rube Goldberg like traps around the house.

This is probably the weakest of the John Hughes movies I've watched this month. This is mainly due to to the fact that it has aged the most. The timeless feeling that is felt when watching all the other movies on this list. It has the exact feeling of it's early 90s setting.

This was Macaulay Culkin's first big movie role. I feel as though child actors from this time weren't given too much direction. Culkin just runs around either screaming or giggling. Catherine O'Hara, who is a funny actor at the best of times isn't give enough screen time to get some good laughs.

The weight of the acting really falls back to Joe Pesci who isn't really working at to the best of his ability. In fact he is quite restrained here. He is known most for his foul mouth and had to be reminded at many times by director Chris Columbus that this is a family movie.

Verdict: A decent family movie that is worth watching. I think it is probably where my fear of spiders comes from, not to mention that it is pretty much the same movie as Die Hard.