Review of Tootsie (1982) by Jean B — 09 Nov 2008

Let's state the obvious and get it out of the way. Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels was the undisputed star of this show, and not just because he had the most screen time. Dorsey, a starving actor who cannot demur to any director's wishes, sets out to disguise himself for a woman's part on a daytime soap, South West General. Et voila, he is now a she, the feisty hospital administrator Dorothy Michaels. In true Dorsey fashion, Dorothy takes her own emphatic liberties with the script but as a woman, she realizes that he must deflect any directorial outrage instead of engaging in the usual fisticuffs or shouting matches. Suppressing hostility isn't the only lesson he learns. While operating in drag, Michael gains access to female dressing rooms and girlfriendships that show him what it means to be a woman in the early 80s. He realizes how men do not take women seriously in the workplace or even off-hours (his own example with his short-lived girlfriend, Sandy). When he meets Julie on the set, he becomes "a better man with you as a woman, then I ever was with a woman as a man.".

Besides Hoffman, this made me rethink Bill Murray. Murray, as Michael's roommate Jeff and unfortunate witness of the multiple Dorothy transformations, had all the wry one-liners that had you on the floor under 2 seconds. Jeff is from a different planet than Bob of "Lost in Translation," his other most memorable role that I've seen, but I kind of like this younger, looser character that knows how to laugh at himself and others equally without the aged cynicism.

And finally, the 80s and all the things that make it so 80s-ish... my usual instinct is to cringe. By sparing us the neon spandex and Cher hair, Tootsie showed me another side to the era that I've conditioned myself to studiously avoid. This movie of all trades (gender discrimination, budding relationship woes, starving artist's compromised integrity) is easily one of the most quotable ones I've seen yet, and I hope it won't be the last from this genre.