Mrs. Doubtfire’s Risky Ending Makes The Movie Great
Mrs. Doubtfire ending with a divorce instead of reuniting the parents is what makes the film truly resonate with audiences to this day.
The 1993 Robin Williams film Mrs. Doubtfire would not have become a classic comedy if the ending hadn’t stayed as unconventional as it is. Still a popular film for kids and families, Chris Columbus’ comedy Mrs. Doubtfire tells the story of a family that changes as the parents get divorced, and how William’s character, recently single dad Daniel Hillard, goes to great lengths to see his children every day. The film’s ending goes against the expected Hollywood ending, which makes it stand out and gives the film more impact.
Based on the 1987 novel Alias Madame Doubtfire, the film was adapted for the screen only a few years after the novel’s release. Seeing as Mrs. Doubtfire is a Robin Williams comedy for families, the expected ending for the film would have been to reunite the split up parents in the film and bring the family back together. But screenwriters Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon chose to stay true to the novel, and end the film with the Hillard family going through with the divorce.
Mrs. Doubtfire’s Ending Doesn’t Work If Daniel & Miranda Get Back Together
What makes Mrs. Doubtfire so important as a family film is that it talks about the taboo topic of divorce. Instead of showing children with divorced parents that the happy ending to their story would be if their parents reunite, the film teaches a valuable lesson on what a family can look like. If Daniel and his ex-wife Miranda had gotten back together, it would’ve reinforced the notion that only a typical nuclear family is a happy family. However, Chris Columbus wisely chose to take Mrs. Doubtfire in the unexpected direction.
Mrs. Doubtfire’s Realistic Depiction Of Divorce Is Important
Despite movies, especially family comedies, usually showing parents as being a married couple, this obviously does not reflect everyone’s reality. Mrs. Doubtfire shows how Daniel, who wants his family to be reunited and struggles to accept his new familial situation, learns to accept that his family looks different now and that he can still be a loving and present father for his children under the new circumstances. Seeing as he is the protagonist and audience character, the people who are watching, many of them children, identify with him and learn to accept a new family reality alongside him.
The reason Mrs. Doubtfire was a 90s comedy movie that resonated with people not only because it was funny, but because it was honest. The film took a difficult situation that a lot of people go through and turned it into a funny and heartfelt story, all without shying away from the truth that a divorce and a happy ending aren’t mutually exclusive, and that sometimes a family will change, but that doesn’t mean it will stop being a family. The story resonates because it is honest and grounded, and wouldn’t have been the same if the ending had been changed.
