In our “woke” times many sensitive souls might misinterpret someone making fun of gender stereotypes as sexism or transphobia. If such notions take hold, that might deprive us of many good or even classic comedies of the past. One of the films that might be threatened in that way is Tootsie, 1982 comedy directed by Sydney Pollack.
Protagonist, played by Dustin Hoffman, is Michael Dorsey, New York stage actor who is immensely talented but also prone to clash with directors and fellow actors. That created career-killing reputation that make him unemployable. In desperation, Michael dresses in drag, takes identity of middle-aged woman named “Dorothy Michaels” and wins audition for the role in popular daytime soap opera. While on set, he can’t fail to notice a beautiful actress Julie Nichols (played by Jessica Lange). As time goes by, his on-screen character becomes popular, but constant need to switch between male and female identities creates problems in his private life. As “Dorothy” he befriends Julie, who is in unhappy romantic relationship with the show’s sexist director Ron Carlisle (played by Dabney Coleman). As “Dorothy” he also becomes object of romantic interest for the fellow actor John Van Horn (played by George Gaynes) and Julie’s kind-hearted father Les (played by Charles Durning). In the same time, as Michael, he is in romantic relationship with struggling actress and old friend Sandy Lester (played by Teri Garr). Situation becomes even more complicated when Michael discovers that he has fallen in love in Julie while his on-screen character becomes popular feminist icon, making the network willing to extend his acting contract for another year.
Developed over many years and plagued by quarrels and creative differences on the set, Tootsie ultimately became one of the most successful films of its time, loved by critics and adored by cinema going audiences. Despite that, it is a relatively simple film based on a single gimmick, which wasn’t that well developed by the small army of competing screenwriters and the humour, while adequate, isn’t anything to write home about. What elevates this film is the incredible quality of acting, most notably in the case of Dustin Hoffman who delivers very strong, effective and demanding performance, playing the man playing the woman in the very credible way. Hoffman, known as the purest embodiment of a Method actor, in many ways based the character of Michael Dorsey on himself and his reputation of a perfectionist who often didn’t get along with directors and fellow actors. If there were troubles on set, they aren’t reflected on the screen and Hoffman’s colleagues do very good job, some of them delivering memorable performances, even in relatively small and thankless roles like the one played by George Gaynes (of future Police Academy fame). Jessica Lange, on the other hand, is adequate but hardly worthy of an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and much better impression is left by hysterically funny Teri Garr. Direction by Pollack, who appears in perhaps not that necessary role of Michael’s agent, is also very good, but there are some issues with pacing, especially in the first part of the film. The music by David Grusin, on the other hand, isn’t that memorable and in many ways sounds very dated. Unlike today’s Hollywood films with similar themes, Tootsie doesn’t try to suffocate audience with explicit political messages (except with some small nods to feminism). This might be one of the reasons why should be recommended even the audiences who suspect that they have seen such cross-dressing comedies before.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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