Review: Tootsie

Directed by: Sydney Pollack

Written by: Larry Gelbart & Murray Schisgal

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning

Rating: [4.5/5]

One cannot appreciate what others experience unless one walks in their shoes to undertake what they do. Something individuals in a place of privilege distinctly must experience in order to get it, which inadvertently happens to the protagonist we follow in Tootsie where he dresses up as a woman in order to get an acting job but gets far more than he bargained for. Incredibly funny and well-crafted, this feature represents a bundle of fun anyone can enjoy. 

Having developed a reputation for being difficult to work with, Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) can no longer find work as an actor. When his agent breaks the news to him, he decides to take up a role when he dresses up as a woman named Dorothy Michaels. With the thought of using his disguise temporarily until he can make enough to fund a play, he gains much more notoriety than he expected with his performances as Dorothy. 

What comes across as a silly premise actually allows different streams of conversations about what Michael’s journey as Dorothy represents. For one, it gives him the experience of going through the workplace and the world as a woman. As a man, he does not have to deal with nearly the amount of nonsense a woman does on a daily basis. From the lewd comments from random men, but also heinously inappropriate behavior by others in the workplace. He gets a little taste of what it feels to be a woman and how much it changes the general way others talk to him and regard his presence, which certainly takes him aback in ways he did not expect. Women have to deal with a widely different set of expectations set upon them and all they can do is smile and deal with it on occasion if they want to keep the peace and maintain steady work. Never in his life did he think he would encounter this. All he wanted was enough money to get this play funded but certainly learned this lesson here. 

That does not detract from the humor all over this feature as Michael’s time as Dorothy creates so many funny moments. The way he deals with the men in this story allows him to embarrass and stand up for his fellow women in the production in a way he never would have thought. With little repercussion of burning bridges as a persona he would only inhabit for a temporary period allows him to go all the way in his actions allowing the commentary involved to speak volumes. That’s something this feature never loses sight of and manages to make it so entertaining on top of delivering some truly heartwarming and damaging messages about gender roles of this era. 

Viewing this story through a 2023 lens does allow for a larger view of what it means to have a man dress up as a woman and pass as one gets to interact with women under this disguise. On one hand, it represents the misguided fear of those who deny the existence of transgender folks where a man can just pretend to be a woman and then end up in women’s changing rooms or bathrooms putting them in danger. Then again, this movie does not operate as a tale of transgenderism but rather just a guy who has pigeonholed himself out of work because of his difficulty and decides perhaps he would have a better look as a woman. Neither is it a tale about how a white man can no longer get work out there but rather a case of someone who already does not have the particular feature most productions want and does himself no favors by acting in the way he does with the opportunities he does get to partake in. It has the same vibes as Some Like it Hot where presenting as the other gender merely serves as a means of convenience rather than anything necessarily nefarious. A fairly important distinction made that seeks to tell the story of cataloguing the experience of cisgender women through the lens of a man and focusing on this allows for the messages to remain precise. 

Of course, none of this would work without the central performance of Dustin Hoffman in both portraying Michael and Dorothy. He displays the more unlikeable side of his true self, while also putting on a much more likable demeanor as Dorothy where he learns what it’s like to actually be a kind man. Hoffman does genuinely fool me in moments with how well he portrays Dorothy making it much more believable that the characters in the film would be the same without having the knowledge we do as audience members. Also, a huge shoutout to Teri Garr as Sandy Lester who delivers nothing but gold with her comedic work of such a fun character. 

Such a hoot in its story and performances takes on a story that ran the risk of not lasting the test of time but manages to create a universal message about the simple idea of walking in someone else’s shoes. In this case, a man sees what life as a woman in both personal and professional circles looks like. It delivers some incredibly funny moments while driving some real meaning in everything transpiring in the movie. We get a whole host of fun performances by quite the cast that also includes Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, and even Geena Davis as they all contribute to this silly but impactful tale.