Movie Review: Tootsie

Tootsie - 25th Anniversary Edition

Let's get this straight - when I was a kid, I didn't really get this movie. It had one or two funny lines, but was it THE awesomely funny cross-dressing movie? Nope. That honor belonged to Miss Doubtfire.

Oh, how things change. Miss Doubtfire still is amusing, I suppose, but when I re-watched Tootsie, I realized how good, clever, and deep a film it actually is. Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, a struggling actor and acting coach who pretends to be a middle-aged woman named Dorothy in order to land an acting gig on a General Hospital-like soap opera. While on the show, he falls in love with one of the actresses, played by Jessica Lange. There you go. That's the story. Simple set up.

The movie is dated in some ways - for example, the gender wars and glass ceiling are not as hot button topics as they used to be - but it doesn't make the movie any less effective. It does make it a bit of time capsule for viewers today - "wait, a minute, in the early 80s, bosses could really just walk around and smack their secretaries on the butt?? That's crazy!" It's valuable for people to see that this country had strong walls, equality in the workplace was rare, and it was a struggle to knock those walls down. Maybe seeing how those walls came tumbling down twenty years ago will inspire today's fighters to pull down other walls that need breaking.

But this is comedy, for crying out loud! So let's talk about that. Is it funny? Mostly, yes. Some of the comedy is also dated, but there is just as much that still works. Most importantly, the comedy all comes from character. The movie isn't just about set pieces or slapstick or "look at me, I'm wearing a bra" jokes. The humor comes from character, makes sense in the context of character, and propells the story forward effectively. Dustin Hoffman is fantastic, Bill Murray is at his deadpan best as his playwright roommate (who clearly ab-libbed most of his dialogue, and I thank him for it!), and Sydney Pollack shows he is just as good an actor as he is a director.

I definitely recommend the movie to people who have never seen it, but more to those who already have. As I get older, I find myself connecting with the characters a lot more. These are people with the same emotional problems and insecurities as the rest of us. That level of reality is why it does hold up so well.

BEST LINE: "Look, you don't know me from Adam. But I was a better man with you, as a woman... than I ever was with a woman, as a man. You know what I mean? I just gotta learn to do it without the dress."

TRIVIA: Apparently Dustin Hoffman could be incredibly mercurial on the set. The cast and crew would only give him bad news when he was dressed as Dorothy because they all said "he was much nicer as a woman."

THE MVP AWARD: Jessica Lange won the Oscar for her performance, but I strongly disagree. She does good work, but when it comes down to it, she is the typical wounded, needs-to-be-loved romantic interest. She's had better roles. But has Teri Garr? Also nominated, she plays Michael Dorsey's insecure and gullible acting student and friend. She is brilliant, taking a character who should be whiny, pathetic and desperate and turns her into a sympathetic and deeply funny, funny woman. Every time she is on screen she steals the show. Her fantastic (and earned) temper tantrum at the end of the movie about feminist literature and being in charge of her own orgasm probably got her the Oscar nomination. It should have brought her the Oscar.

Oscars: Supporting Actress (Jessica Lange)

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Supporting Actress (Teri Garr), Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman), Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Song, Best Sound, Best Cinematography.