The current divorce rate in the United States for first marriages is between forty and fifty percent.  Those are not good numbers or odds for a husband and wife to stay together.  If I may be so bold, I would posit that part of the reason for this situation is people getting married outside of the Catholic Church.  If a wedding takes place inside a Catholic place of worship, the couple is likely to have gone through the preparation the Church requires before tying the knot.  While it sounds romantic, rushing into what we call a Sacrament often means that those two people do not know each other as well as they might think.  Spiritually speaking, the notion of being wedded, but not before the Eucharist, takes something away from the experience.  Having said all this, one should appreciate the lengths some go to in order to keep a marriage from ending.  Then there is Mrs. Doubtfire (1993).  Granted, this is a comedy, but judge for yourself as to whether any of these actions are justified.

One thing you would say Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is justified in doing at the beginning of Mrs. Doubtfire is walking off the job.  He is a voice actor for a children’s cartoon.  However, the character he is speaking for has a cigarette shoved into its mouth.  Instead of following the lines, he adlibs a commentary about the evils of smoking to which the directors object.  When they refuse to change the script, he quits.  The fact that this means he is able to pick up his children from school indicates to them that he has lost his job, though they are happy to see him all the same.  His son, Chris Hillard (Matthew Lawrence), is particularly pleased because it is his twelfth birthday, and dad has a big party planned to end before Chris’ mom, Miranda Hillard (Sally Field), returns from work.  She gets a call that summons to the house sooner than expected, with their neighbor complaining about the scope of the festivities.  Upon arriving, the police remind her that farm animals are not allowed in a residential setting.  As such, she is justifiably angry.  Between that and the loss of employment, she decides to file for divorce.  The children are upset, but Daniel takes it the hardest.  At first, he believes it will be temporary, but when Daniel and Miranda appear before a judge, his employment status and his lack of a job work against him.  Specifically, it means that she is granted near total custody, him only getting to see the kids on Saturdays.  There are some caveats.  He has three months to find housing and work, after which time the case will be revisited.  As for the latter part of those conditions, he is hired at a local television network, not as an on-air talent, but as a mailroom clerk.  It is not what he wants, and neither is the crummy apartment he moves into, but it is a start.  Speaking of it not being ideal, the one day a week arrangement is frustrating for everyone involved.  Upon picking up the children on their first day at Daniel’s new place, Miranda informs him that she is looking for a nanny.  Daniel and the kids wonder why it cannot be him, but she remains adamant that it must be somebody new.  Before she can place the advertisement in the newspaper, he changes the phone number she has on it.  This makes it so that he is the only one that can reach her about the position.  After several ridiculous calls, he settles on the persona of Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire and gets an interview.  To make himself look like an old lady, he contacts his brother, Frank Hillard (Harvey Fierstein), who works as a makeup and prosthetic artist.  Together, they come up with the right and successful look, and Daniel is immediately welcomed as the children’s new nanny.  Daniel comes at a moment when Miranda is beginning to look elsewhere for a companion.  In her position as an architect, she is visited by an old friend turned client, Stu Dunmeyer (Pierce Brosnan).  The handsome developer immediately tries to take her out to dinner, but she initially refuses.  Meanwhile, Daniel is settling into his role as a caregiver.  Although there is some resistance to his strict ways, his gentle but firm approach wins over everyone.  The first test comes when Chris accidentally walks in on Mrs. Doubtfire as he is relieving himself in the standing position.  He is frightened and immediately goes to Lydia Hillard (Lisa Jakub), his older sister, to call the police.  Daniel is forced to admit the truth, but swearing them not to tell their little sister, Natalie Hillard (Mara Wilson), who is more likely to spoil what is otherwise a happy reunion with their father.  At the same time, at his position at the network, Daniel catches the notice of one of their producers, Mr. Lundy (Robert Prosky), when the actor makes some insightful suggestions for one of their struggling shows.  So impressed is Mr. Lundy that he invites Daniel to have dinner so they can discuss other ideas.  Daniel readily agrees, but then he learns that it is the same night as Miranda’s birthday.  He is expected to be there in the guise of Mrs. Doubtfire, and they happen to be dining at the same restaurant.  Instead of saying no to one, he says yes to both, and tries to be two people in two places at once.  At one point, he sits down in front of Mr. Lundy as Mrs. Doubtfire, though he saves his cause by pitching the fictional English nanny as his show idea.  It all ends spectacularly, though, when Daniel goes to save Stu from a piece of shrimp on which the suitor is choking.  While giving the Heimlich maneuver, Mrs. Doubtfire’s mask slips off and the truth is revealed.  As such, at the next hearing, despite his impassioned speech, the court orders Daniel to seek psychiatric evaluation and is allowed only supervised visits.  What changes Mirand’s mind is seeing him play Mrs. Doubtfire on television.  Knowing how much everyone misses him, she talks to the court and Daniel is allowed to take the children more often.

In other words, Daniel and Miranda do not get back together at the end of Mrs. Doubtfire.  My apologies if my introduction suggested this might happen.  Still, even though it is rather unconventional, I have to applaud his effort.  In the beginning, fatherhood for him was more of a popularity contest.  The children loved him, but mom was always stuck in the role of being the disciplinarian.  The fact that he did not recognize this shows a lack of awareness for his wife’s feelings.  In other words, he was not being a good Christian father and husband.  Something I was reminded of today while listening to one of Father Mike Schmitz’s podcasts (I cannot remember which) is that the primary mission of a spouse is to help their family get to Heaven.  There is nothing more important because it means eternity.  To do so, a man must model Christ in terms of putting others before himself.  If you are just wanting your kids to like you like Daniel, then that is a selfish motivation.  To correct this behavior, on the surface, one can say that he takes extraordinary measures that no one else would do.  In this light, it makes sense that the judge at the end would recommend seeing a mental health professional.  In a different sense, though, what Daniel is doing quite literally is taking on the role of a servant.  In the Gospel of Mark, in chapter nine, the Apostles argue as to who will be the first among them.  In verse thirty-five, Jesus tells them that in order to be first, you must be last and servant of all.  As strange as it might be to say, Daniel does this by removing himself and placing the needs of his family first.  It may be a job, but I think there is a lesson in humility in his actions that can be a blessing.

Though it is mostly a blessing to watch Mrs. Doubtfire despite its age, there are some elements of it that are a little dated. I will leave those to your own judgement, however.  It is also a shame that Daniel and Miranda do not get back together in the end.  Still, God loves all families no matter their status.  The note about this at the end is a fine conclusion to a solid film.