When I was in my senior year of high school, I was part of the spring musical, we performed Hairspray and I got play the role that was practically made for me to play, Edna Turnblad, a character that is a woman but is played by a man. Preparing for my performance, I took inspiration from John Travolta’s role from the 2006 film adaptation. During my preparations, I learned from a few people that there have been some really good films where the male star is playing a female. I already knew one to be Mrs. Doubtfire, played brilliantly by the late Robin Williams. I was told about two other films to watch, Some Like It Hot, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis playing females, and the 1982 comedy film, Tootsie, with Dustin Hoffman also playing a woman. I didn’t watch Some Like It Hot, but I did watch Tootsie after the musical just so I could see what was acclaimed about Dustin Hoffman’s performance and boy was it a great surprise to see him actually convince me that he could be a woman. Not to mention that the film is hilarious.
Directed by Sydney Pollack, Tootsie stars Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels, Jessica Lange as Julie Nichols, Charles During as Les Nichols, George Gaynes as John Van Horn, Teri Garr as Sandy Lester, Dabney Coleman as Ron Carlisle, and Bill Murray as Jeff Slater. Interesting fact, Sydney Pollack has a supporting character role and there are two actresses who were unknown at the time that have minor roles, Geena Davis and Lynne Thigpen. Tootsie tells the story of a struggling actor, Michael Dorsey, who has a bad reputation for being a perfectionist and difficult person to work with when he tries to audition for any type of acting role and only wants to help raise $8,000 to help produce a play with his friend and fellow playwright, Jeff. After learning through his agent that he has no chance of being hired, he decides to dress as a woman named Dorothy Michaels to try and audition for a character in a popular daytime drama (soap opera) and is cast in a female role that inspires millions of women who want to be respected as a person and not simply as a woman. Through this job, he meets Julie Nichols, who plays a character on the show, and the two begin to have a special friendship with Julie not knowing about Dorothy’s secret. Michael learns that Julie is being mistreated by show director Ron Carlisle and that she has a daughter with an unknown biological father. Michael gets caught up in a series of crazy hijinxes that challenges his ability to keep his secret but also wants to reveal his true feelings to Julie.
When it comes to 80’s comedies, most are nothing but silly, but Tootsie has a decent balance of both comedy and drama and has one of Dustin Hoffman’s best performances in his career. The film is really funny, it has characters you can relate to, and Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels is what makes this movie work. The comedy in this film is really funny and it mainly occurs when Michael gets into situations to where he has to act his all and keep his female persona a secret, there are funny moments of dialogue from some of the supporting actors like Bill Murray, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, George Gaynes, and Teri Garr. One of my favorite lines is when Bill Murray says, “That is one nutty hospital,” after seeing Michael reveal his secret to everyone. Charles Durning and George Gaynes have some really funny scenes as both of their characters constantly try to woo over Dorothy, both are unaware that he is a she. Teri Garr has some funny scenes since her character is Michael’s friend and originally tried auditioned for the part that Michael gets as Dorothy, her character is an emotional time-bomb that will do anything to get a great theater role and is always worried about her future as an actor, even to the point where she despises Dorothy for getting the role and not her.
I said previously that there are characters that I can relate to, and I would say that I would relate most to Michael and Julie as they both have troubles even though one is struggling in the acting business and the other is successful. Michael has a big mouth and a perfectionist attitude but is willing to go all the way to raise money for Jeff’s play. Julie is successful but doesn’t have a great personal life and is constantly mistreated by her boyfriend, Ron (Dabney Coleman), not to mention that she is cheated on and is an alcoholic in an environment that involves a child. When Julie gets to know Dorothy, she finally starts to realize that she matters and shouldn’t let others boss her around, she also seems to kinda love Dorothy, even though she admits that she is not a lesbian. 
I don’t really have problems with the film, and honestly, I don’t want to name any problems because I really enjoy this film, but I will say that not everyone will be thrilled by this film, some may find it to be a cheesy 80’s film, sure it has those elements, but most of the cheesiness comes from this film making fun of sexism, soap operas, and living as an unemployed actor. I would say that the only problem I have is outside of the film and that no one ever talks about it and most of the people that know about it grew up in the eighties. Honestly, I feel that my generation only knows about Mrs. Doubtfire, Hairspray, and that abomination of a film called Jack and Jill.
Tootsie is an underrated gem, it’s a film that I like watching anytime I can and it’s up there with one of the best films about cross-dressing men. For anything, I would watch this film solely for Dustin Hoffman’s performance as he makes the film as good as it is. It’s an underrated classic and needs to be seen by others who appreciate these types of comedy films.
9.0 out of 10
