10 Terrible Ideas That Became Great Movies
3. A Father Disguises Himself As A Female Housekeeper To Get Closer To His Kids - Mrs. Doubtfire
Imagine trying to pitch Mrs. Doubtfire today - it'd be laughed out of every office in Hollywood in record time.
A film where a man (Robin Williams) dresses up as a female housekeeper in order to have greater contact with his children following his divorce sounds awful when you speak it aloud, suggesting a kooky comedy where Williams dons a fat-suit and frolics around for lowest common denominator laughs.
But it's a testament to director Chris Columbus that, while an inherent funny concept, Mrs. Doubtfire is actually an unexpectedly thoughtful, even mature dramedy about the pain of divorce, and those who always suffer the most: the kids.
Underneath its fundamentally ridiculous premise is a film that has something to say and commits fully to its emotional ideas, rather than merely serving up a predictably syrupy happy ending.
It helps that Robin Williams is excellent in the lead role of course, and while not every aspect of Mrs. Doubtfire has aged superbly, it remains a tremendously popular film that transcends its potentially disastrous premise.