Tootsie
Tags: cult, entertaining, romantic, queer

Plot synopsis:
Michael Dorsey is an actor living and working in New York City. Most of his work seems to be on the stage; he is adept at disguises, and has a tendency to tailor his own look at the audition based on what he thinks the director wants. However, he is also very stubborn and willful; for instance, he has one confrontation with a director over whether his character can get up and move center stage for a death scene. Michael storms off the stage and quits the play, even though apparently they are well into rehearsals.Michael lives with his best friend Jeff Slater, an eccentric playwright, and both men earn a living by waiting tables in a restaurant. As the film opens, Jeff and Michael's many friends and associates throw him a surprise birthday party, during which Michael's inability to connect with women becomes obvious. He has the tendency to lie, even about trivial things, to the point where the women see through him and avoid him. When Michael's potential love connection leaves the party with another man, Michael decides to console his neurotic friend Sandy Lester by walking her home. Sandy is nervous about an audition that she has the following day for a soap opera called "Southwest General", Michael coaches her and agrees to walk her to the audition the next day.When they get to the studio, the director refuses to even allow Sandy to read; he says she isn't intimidating enough. When Michael tries to talk to a secretary to get ahold of a friend of his in the cast, he finds out his friend has left the cast to do a Broadway play--a role that Michael's agent, George Fields, had promised for Michael himself. Michael becomes furious and goes straight to George's office and barges in. George humors him at first but then explains to Michael that his reputation as a troublemaker has made him impossible to employ. Even directors who have hired Michael for commercials have found themselves overbudget due to Michael's inability to take direction. Michael questions George about Jeff's play that he's writing; Michael has sent George a copy of it, and George dismisses it as a pointless play that nobody will see. Michael becomes resolved; he will raise the $8000 it will take to produce Jeff's play. George disagrees and tells Michael nobody will hire him.The next thing we see is Michael, walking down a busy New York street, in disguise as a woman. He goes to the audition for "Southwest General" and gives them the bogus name Dorothy Michaels, name dropping George as "her" agent. Dorothy meets the show's producer, Rita Marshall, who takes her in to meet Ron Carlisle, the show's director. Ron sees Dorothy and immediately dismisses her, just as he must have done to Sandy. He tells Dorothy she's not right for the part, but Dorothy presses the issue and asks why. When Ron tells her she's not intimidating enough, Dorothy questions his intentions and becomes visibly angry and loud, scolding Ron and even Rita about wanting to portray powerful women in a negative, unattractive light. Rita seems to take what Dorothy said to heart, and follows her when she storms out, asking her to come back in for a reading. Ron is put off by Dorothy's outburst, but Rita smooths it over by flattering him, telling him Dorothy was impressed with the way he communicated the part to her. Dorothy's audition is impressive, and although Ron says there is something about her that doesn't sit right with him, Rita decides to hire her for the role.Still dressed as Dorothy, Michael goes to the Russian Tea Room, where he knows George will be having lunch, and intercepts him, insinuating himself at George's table and discreetly revealing to George that he is Michael Dorsey in disguise. George is horrified, and even more shocked that Michael managed to land a job as Dorothy. Michael borrows $1000 from George and goes shopping for a new wardrobe.Michael has a discussion with Jeff about his strange new gig. He plans on simply doing the soap opera until he raises the money to do Jeff's play, which is intended as a vehicle for Michael and Sandy. Michael and Jeff both wonder how they'll tell Sandy that they have the money to do the play, without telling her that the producers hired a man in drag instead of her. Michael decides to lie to her, telling her a family member died. Michael and Sandy decide to celebrate by going out to dinner; while Sandy is in the shower, Michael spots a dress she owns and wants to try it on, but after he undresses, Sandy returns unexpectedly. At a loss to explain why he is in his underwear, Michael has sex with Sandy. Afterwards, they both wonder how it will change their friendship; Sandy is pessimistic and says Michael will never call her now, but Michael promises to have dinner with her the following day.At his first day on the job as Dorothy, Michael meets his fellow cast members, including a beautiful woman named Julie Nichols. She plays a nurse on the show, and she also happens to be Ron's girlfriend. Dorothy makes a good impression on everybody, but Michael is shocked when he discovers that Dorothy has a scene where she kisses a lecherous male cast member, played by an older man named John Van Horn. Since Michael does not relish the idea of kissing another man, "Dorothy" ends up changing the scene, hitting John over the head with a folder when he tries to kiss her. Although Ron is incensed, he lets it pass, and this begins the emergence of both Dorothy and the character she is playing as a strong, no-nonsense woman.Dorothy and Julie also begin a friendship. Although Julie sees Dorothy as simply another woman, Dorothy is really Michael, and he is extremely attracted to Julie. A series of mishaps occurs where Michael breaks plans with Sandy in order to spend time with Julie, culminating in an evening when he goes to Julie's apartment as Dorothy in order to discuss work and socialize with her. Dorothy meets Julie's infant daughter, Amy, and discovers that Julie has a fondness for drinking. She seems vaguely unhappy and in search of her own voice, something that keeps her under the spell of Ron. Dorothy sees Ron treating Julie with disrespect, not only cheating on her with other women but constantly talking down to her, clearly not taking her seriously as a person. When Julie mentions that Ron was supposed to show up for dinner one night and stood her up, Michael suddenly remembers Sandy and the dinner she had planned to make at her apartment for the both of them that night. After leaving Julie's, Michael goes home, changes out of his disguise, and goes over to Sandy's. She isn't nearly as furious with him as she should be, and even Michael points this out to her. Sandy accuses him of having an affair, having spotted Dorothy going into Michael's apartment. Michael tells her "Sandy, I'm not having an affair wtih the woman that went into my apartment. It's impossible."As Dorothy, Michael begins to learn about what it means to be a woman, particularly the roles that men may expect women to play. When Ron talks down to Dorothy, she stands up for herself and gives it back to him, which inspires Julie and the other women on the show. Additionally, Dorothy's spunky attitude is a hit with the viewers of "Southwest General", causing the show's ratings to climb and Dorothy to become a minor celebrity.George remains an unwilling accomplice in Michael's deception, perhaps mostly due to the fact that Michael already assocated him with Dorothy by telling everyone he's her agent. He takes Michael to a party one night and they see Julie there with Ron. Michael isn't in disguise, so neither one of them recognizes him as Dorothy. Michael makes an attempt to talk to Julie, but she ignores him, eventually throwing a drink in his face when he makes an off-color remark to her. This adds to Michael's panic about his relationship with Julie; as Dorothy, he is Julie's friend and confidante. As Michael, he doesn't stand a chance with her.As Dorothy's tenure with "Southwest General" is about to end, Julie invites her to come with her to upstate New York, where her widowed father still lives on the farm where Julie grew up. Against Jeff's advice, Michael goes with Julie, maintaining his Dorothy disguise all weekend. Dorothy meets Julie's father, Les, a conservative but kind man who enjoys the laid back life he leads on the farm. Julie tells Dorothy that Les hasn't dated any women since her mother passed away, and it becomes clear that he takes a strong liking to Dorothy. Dorothy manages to politely avoid Les's advances.When they return to New York, the precarious position that Michael is in begins to implode. Rita tells Dorothy that because of her popularity with the viewers, they will be picking up their option to keep her on the show for another season. Michael is very upset to get that news, since he wants to leave the show in order to do Jeff's play, but George tells him there is nothing he can do about it, the studio has the legal option to keep Dorothy on. As Michael is about to go to bed, he gets a frantic call from Julie asking Dorothy if she can come over and sit for Amy while Julie goes out with Ron; Julie has decided to break up with Ron, and she tells Dorothy that she herself is the inspiration for Julie's newfound assertiveness. After a few harrowing hours where Amy refuses to cooperate with Dorothy, Julie returns, despondent about the breakup, and in a moment of vulnerability, she tells Dorothy that she treasures their friendship more than anything, but feels like she wants something she just can't have. In response, Michael leans in and tries to kiss Julie, but Julie of course does not know Dorothy is really a man, and she assumes Dorothy is a lesbian who just made a pass at her. Confused and upset, she is clearly distraught that her new best friend has made a pass at her, when the phone rings. It is Les, and he asks if he can speak to Dorothy, inviting her to a downtown club for drinks and dancing. What Les really does is propose marriage to Dorothy, giving her an engagement ring. Dorothy tells him she needs time to think it over and leaves.Michael returns home by cab and finds John Van Horn waiting outside his apartment for Dorothy. When she refuses to invite him up, he starts singing loudly and attracts the attention of neighbors, so Dorothy invites him up anyway. After making several attempts to seduce Dorothy, John is horrified when Jeff returns home unexpectedly. Embarassed, he leaves. Jeff turns to Michael and says "You slut!" The final strand to unravel is Sandy, who shows up right after, banging on the front door to be let in. Michael hurriedly takes a shower, removing his makeup and Dorothy disguise, and Sandy demands to know why he hasn't been returning her phone calls. Michael attempts to lie to her again, giving her a box of chocolates that Les sent Dorothy, but her forgets there is a note attached. Sandy reads it and it says "Thank you for a wonderful night in front of the fire, Les." Cornered, Michael finally comes clean with Sandy, but all he manages to get out is "I'm in love with another woman" before Sandy plunges into hysteria. Even so, Sandy tells Michael that she could handle the fact that he was in love with another woman, but she does not like being lied to. Michael has already come to the realization that he has been behaving like Ron, rationalizing his lies and callous treatment of women, which may explain why Michael does not have any real relationship with a woman at all.Things come to a head when, the next day at the studio, one of the reels of the show is accidentally destroyed and the cast is forced to do a crucial scene live on the air. Before they go on, Dorothy visits Julie's dressing room. Julie tells Dorothy that she cannot see her anymore. Since Julie now thinks another woman is in love with her, she can't lead Dorothy on by pretending to be friends when she knows Dorothy wants more from her. When they go on the air, Ron and Rita watch nervously, hoping that the scene comes off alright. They are horrified when Dorothy starts veering wildly from the script, taking her character into a long speech about why she came to Southwest General. After concocting a crazy story about disfiguring diseases, exile in foreign countries, and other nonsensical things, Dorothy takes off her wig and reveals herself to be a man underneath, weaving her own real story into that of her character, as if her unmasking was always intended to be part of the Southwest General plot all along. Sandy and Les react in horror, watching the episode from their TV sets, while the cast themselves are shocked to discover that Dorothy is actually a man. Julie walks up to Michael and angrily hits him in the stomach.Some time after the fallout, Michael drives upstate and finds Les in the bar where he likes to hang out, presumably to return the ring and try to make amends. Les is hostile at first, but eventually softens enough to allow Michael to apologize. Michael explains why he took the role as Dorothy, and that he never meant to hurt anybody. Les and Michael eventually lighten up enough to joke about the situation, and Les admits that Michael was good company. Michael tells Les that he is in love with Julie, but Les says Julie never mentions him.The final scene occurs when Michael attempts to see Julie. He waits for her outside the TV studio, but Julie spots him and walks away. Michael chases after her and tries to make small talk with her. Julie tries to avoid him but finally allows him to talk to her. Michael tells Julie what he told Les, that he only did it for the money, and that he couldn't help falling in love with Julie. He also says that he was a better person as Dorothy than he ever was as himself. He asks her to give him a chance, since they were already good friends. Julie admits that she misses Dorothy, but Michael reminds her that he is Dorothy. "I just gotta learn to do it without the dress," he tells her. Julie softens and smiles, playfully asking him if she can borrow one of Dorothy's outfits. In the final shot, they walk down the street together talking and laughing, and after they get about a block away, Julie happily puts her arm around Michael.

Review: Hoffman feels his Dorothy character should be doing specials and giving advice and whatnot, but Pollack reminds him, "You have NOTHING to say to women, Michael." In other words, you're lucky you've gotten away with the stunt up to this point, now you should be looking for a way to get out.Overall Tootsie is wonderful experience.
Michael, an unemployed actor in New York, takes desperate measures by dressing up as a woman called Dorothy Michaels and gets a job at an TV soap opera, where he falls in love with Julie.
Winner of 3 Golden Globes ( Best movie comedy/musical, best actors Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange ) and one Oscar ( Best actress Jessica Lange ), "Tootsie" is a small masterpiece of intelligent comedy, full of emotions, love and interesting observations about the relationship between women and men.-------The situations are deliciously written.
Everything in this baby clicks: A script that is both clever, endearing and realistic in its depiction of the emotional transformation within Michael Dorsey, incredible acting performances (with Dustin Hoffman, Terri Garr and unbilled Bill Murray as standouts) and a great soundtrack that adds volumes to the mood of the film.This is a 10!
Dustin Hoffman is brilliant as Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels.Along with Jessica Lange and Teri Garr and fantastic direction from and co-star Sydney Pollack,this couldn't be any better.It's a great story and well scripted and very funny besides.If you love films you can't not love this one.This is my 2nd favourite film in the world  only because ''Some Like it Hot'' is my first choice.Dustin is one of the best actors in the business and continues to be to this day..
Whether it's his unforgettable character in Rainman or Michael Dorsey/Dorthy Michael in this, Dustin is at his best when he plays someone DIFFERENT, someone who is not your average person.This film will make you laugh, that's for sure, but it'll also make you rethink about the things that really make you happy in your life, something too few of us think about...almost never..
I've seen it countless times, and it's still a great watch.Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, an unemployed actor, who can't seem to get along with any director or writer in town.
This is the most witty, hilarious and relaxed movie that so many actors and directors have missed completely when dealing with the whole 'drag' subject.The storyline is a hot tempered and highly opinionated out-of-work actor(Dustin Hoffman) is told by his agent (Sydney Pollack) in all kindness that nobody will hire him.
Sidney Pollack's inspired direction (and those who know Hoffman, know he probably "collaborated" with Pollack)perfectly brought together all the elements of this winning story about an unemployed actor/acting teacher/waiter named Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) who, despite being a wonderful actor, cannot get work as he has earned a reputation for being "difficult." Desperate to earn $8000.00 in order to produce a play that his roommate (Bill Murray) wrote, he dresses in drag and auditions for a role on a soap opera and actually gets the part.
Complications ensue when he falls in love with the soap's leading lady (Jessica Lange), butts head with the soap's creepy director (Dabney Coleman), and has to hide what he's doing from his neurotic friend (Teri Garr, in a performance that should have won her the Oscar)who also auditioned for the soap role he got, a ruse that has the woman convinced Michael is gay.
Jessica Lange is a charming leading lady (though I still think the Best Supporting Actress Oscar should have gone to Garr, not Lange)and even director Pollack makes his scenes count as Michael's agent George Fields.
Dustin Hoffman, at this point in his illustrious career, would hardly seem convincing as a struggling New York City actor who has to beg his agent for work, but his comic desperation here is funny and real at the same time.
Dustin Hoffman is at his peak in the dual role, Jessica Lange is beautiful as Julie, Terri Garr is sweet and loyal as Sandy, and Charles Durning as fantastic as Les, Julie's Dad and Dorothy's suitor.
This weekend, if you feel like having a piece of popcorn entertainment, make it a good run for the money by buying tickets to Sydney Pollack's new film Tootsie, a story about a job that requires the most greed, acting, sorry to anyone who believed it was a gig at a Las Vegas casino.
It is the actors playing the characters in this guilt-ridden fable.In this story we have Oscar winning actor, Dustin Hoffman playing Michael Dorsey, an out of work actor who is getting no slack from his talent agent played by director, Sydney Pollack.
Please, by all means, do not see this movie for its story but for great acting done by Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Sydney Pollack and Bill Murray.
In one Dustin Hoffman's finest roles, he plays a talented actor from New York named Michael Dorsey who is still looking for his big break.
Tootsie (1982) **** (out of 4)Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is an unemployed actor who is told by his agent (Sydney Pollack) that there's no one in the country that will hire him due to his attitude.
Dorsey, seeing this as a challenge, decides to dress as a woman calling herself Dorothy Michaels and gets a job on a soap opera where he strikes up a relationship with one of the stars (Jessica Lange) on the show.
Not only does the "comedy" of a man dressing as a woman work but the film is more than just laughs as it hits on what it means to be an actor struggling to get work but there's also a lot of heart to the film and there's certainly many underline themes dealing with the differences between men and women.There are a lot of great things in this movie but there's no question that the true magic belongs to Hoffman who turns in one of his greatest performances.
I think his performance as the woman is so great that many probably would believe that a real woman was playing her.The supporting cast is wonderful as well with Lange certainly deserving her Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
This is my second favorite on my list of favorite comedies, behind the Marx Brother's film "A Night at the Opera." "Tootsie" is entirely unpredictable and implausible, and watching Dustin Hoffman pull off the act of dressing up as a woman makes me laugh hysterically every time I see it.
Having been told that he will get no work in either New York or Hollywood due to people finding him unmanageable, he takes the drastic step of going for an audition as a woman in order to try and get an acting job.Thus begins the best cross-dressing film of all time.
The script from this point on is superb as Michael Dorsey's alter ego Dorothy Michael's star rises, due to her appearance in a daytime soap, beyond anything that he thought would have been possible, Michael has to contend with both his lives becoming ever more confused as each life imposes restrictions of the other one.Unable to tell the woman he loves how he feels as she thinks he's Dorothy, unable to tell his girlfriend that he has got the role she originally auditioned for, and getting great counselling from his best friend and playwright, superbly brought to life by Bill Murray, who steals every scene he is in, within the film, we are treated to a film that could so easily have wound up in the farce category but manages deftly to avoid it.The rest of the cast in the form of Dabney Coleman, Jessica Lange and Sydney Pollock are great in their roles as Director, object of affection and agent respectively with everyone else in equally splendid form it's a masterclass in acting for anyone wanting to know what it takes to become a great actor.One of the films of the eighties..
Bill Murray nearly steals the movie as Michael's pretentious, decidedly weird friend whose only goal in life is to have people watch his plays and ask, "hey, man what was that about?" The only acting Oscar went to Jessica Lange (for Best Supporting Actress).
Though her performance in "Tootsie" isn't as compelling as her role in "Frances" (coincidentally, she was nominated for the Best Actress statuette that same year for "Frances"), she really brings a lot of dimension to the typical love interest character.
Other fine well known actors in this movie are Charles Durning, Lynne Thigpen, Sydney Pollack himself Geena Davis in her first movie role and Bill Murray (I had totally forgotten he also was in this movie, until my recent last viewing).The movie was actually nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, which is a real big achievement for a comedy.
Don't get me wrong, he did a good job with this movie and its story but his movies always feel like they are lacking something, mostly in its style and perhaps also pace.All in all this movie surely will become and maybe already is a comedy classic, mainly thanks to the surprising Hoffman and the well written script.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including most of the majors for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in Dustin Hoffman, two Best Supporting Actress nominations for Teri Garr and Jessica Lange in her Oscar winning role and Best Screenplay in addition to Film editing, Cinematography, Music and sound.
There must have been something in the drinking water at around the time of TOOTSIE because Julie Andrews had just played a woman pretending to be a man and here we have DUSTIN Hoffman in the same situation and for the same reason--gainful employment.Anyway, Dustin does a believable job as Dorothy Michaels, the character he invents when it seems his job tryouts are all in vain.
He's a man who seems to attract enemies like flies but when he puts on his Dorothy make-up they're more like moths attracted to a flame.This makes dealing with his girlfriend TERI GARR even more difficult, not to mention the fact that he's smitten with JESSICA LANGE, the soap opera actress who treats him like her best girl friend.With director Sydney Pollack and Bill Murray in supporting roles, TOOTSIE gets by because Dustin's Dorothy character is so appealing and believable.
Struggling and notoriously hard to work with actor Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) takes on the role of a woman in a daytime television soap opera, basically because he cannot get any more jobs as a male actor due to his reputation.
"Tootsie" is perhaps the premier example of 80s adult comedy at its best, and it's a dynamite film.Dustin Hoffman plays a struggling actor who lands a job on a soap opera under the guise of a tough-talking woman.
1st watched 5/13/2001 - 7 out of 10 (Dir-Sidney Pollack): Well done comedy/drama with excellent performance by Hoffman as the man posing as a woman to get a job as an actor or is it actress.
Dustin Hoffman shows remarkable range as an actor by playing a woman, and he pulls it off big time.Sydney Pollack's film is about an actor named Michael Dorsey who is known for his reputation for being hard to work with.
Tootsie is a great movie with a very well developed storyline and a fantastic cast that succeed in both comedic and dramatic scenes.There are plenty of very funny parts,which is exactly what I expected from a movie were Dustin Hoffman pretends to be a woman to succeed as an actor,but the movie also contains a lot of very sympathetic and dramatic scenes that make us connect and feel for these characters so much more.There is great chemistry between Hoffman and Jessica Lange which is what made this unusual love story so great,you can tell that they loved working together and are both some of the best actors Hollywood has ever been lucky enough to discover.A near perfect mix of both comedy and drama,Tootsie is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for either genre.
A desperate unemployed actor gets the role of his dreams and instant fame,but no one knows this new female television star is actually a man.Best Performance: Dustin Hoffman.
What does that glued up magazine clipping say on the inside of Hoffman's apartment door?Can anyone tell me what it says?Soon one has to know.It bugs me every time I watch this movie !!!It has to have some relevant meaning to the point of the movie.Or I would like to think so.And while I'm at it, does that note has some meaning to the acting craft, the director, Bill Murray's roommate character (who seems to offer Dorothy Michael lots of advice each time he's on the screen)..
I have never seen "Ishtar" or "Family Business"- in the case of the former I have been dissuaded by its reputation as one of the great turkeys of all time- but his other three films from the decade, "Tootsie", "Death of a Salesman" and "Rain Man", although very different from one another, are all among his best.Here Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, a New York actor who is finding it difficult to obtain work.
There are, however, also important differences between the two films (quite apart from the fact that Hoffman makes a more convincing woman than does Williams)."Tootsie" is, like "Nine to Five" from two years earlier, a comedy with feminist overtones which satirises male sexism in the workplace.
Nominated for 9 Academy Awards, and winning one for Jessica Lange as Best Supporting Actress, the film is most notably remembered for Dustin Hoffman's outstanding portrayal of Dorthy Michaels, a conservative, masculine looking woman whose no-nonsense approach to life and female discrimination are an inspiration to all women.
Tootsie is a comedy,which goes without saying because AFI ranked it #2 all time in it's top 100 list of best comedy films,but I recall vividly some years ago an interview in which the film's main star,Dustin Hoffman disclosed that the film was never a comedy for him.In fact,he got rather teary eyed,as I recall,as he stated that it was while working on this film that he came to the full realization of what women have had to suffer in the mostly male dominated Hollywood over many generations.This is the film in which Dustin Hoffman showed me that he is an absolute master of his craft and commands ultimate respect,further sealing the deal with Rain Man some years later.It's a great story with a great supporting cast,and I loved especially the interaction between Hoffman and Sydney Pollack.It's classic..
Dustin Hoffman is brilliant in his dual role, for which he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, portraying both the unemployed male actor, Michael, and the highly successful female TV soap star, Dorothy.This wonderful comedy revolves around an unemployed actor named Michael Dorsey, who disguises himself as a woman, Dorothy Michaels, in order to land a part in a TV soap opera...a role which proves incredibly successful.
Tootsie is one of these all-too rare comedies; it just never stops being funny, no matter how many times you watch it.Hoffman plays a struggling actor who, in desperation, disguises himself as a woman and gets a part in very popular daytime soap.
The frustrated actor, cross-dressing to get a role to raise money to finance a play that no-one is likely to see, and becoming a national icon without anyone catching on - the premise is ludicrous but Hoffman makes it believable, and even makes you sympathize with him along the way.Every scene in this movie works.
There's Sandy (Teri Garr), Michael's girlfriend who doesn't know about his cross-dressing secret; Jeff (Bill Murray), Michael's roommate who's the only one who knows Michael is leading a double life; Julie (Jessica Lange), the popular actress on the soap opera who forms a close friendship with Dorothy and who Michael falls in love with; Les (Charles Durning), Julie's father who falls in love with Dorothy; Ron (Dabney Coleman), the sexist director of the soap; Rita (Doris Belack), the sharp tongued producer of the soap; and John Van Horn (George Gaynes), the womanizing actor of the soap who's crazy about Dorothy too.
There's Sandy (Teri Garr), Michael's girlfriend; Jeff (Bill Murray), Michael's roommate; Julie (Jessica Lange), the popular actress on the soap opera who forms a close friendship with Dorothy who Michael falls in love with; Les (Charles Durning), Julie's father who falls in love with Dorothy; Ron (Dabney Coleman), the sexist director of the soap; Rita (Doris Belack), the sharp tongued producer of the soap; and John Van Horn (George Gaynes), the womanizing actor of the soap who's crazy about Dorothy too.
A movie that combines the considerable talents of Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange (yeah!), Teri Garr, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, Sidney Pollack, Geena Davis, Estelle Getty (don't blink or you'll miss her!), a sparkling, intelligent screenplay and Pollack's flawless direction -- what more could anyone ask for?
Tootsie is one of the most intelligent comedies It is perfectly cast and full of surprises.Plot In A Paragraph: Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey.
Yes he was terrific in that movie, but there has never been one actor who dresses up as a woman and has played a woman to perfection like Dustin Hoffman.
Jessica Lange won the 1982 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role, and Teri Garr was nominated, but it is only really Hoffman and Pollack who actually stand out in this enjoyable and rather well made, but ultimately far off being perfect, or special, film..
First of all, I regard Dustin Hoffman who plays Michael Dorsey as a good actor because he performs as if he were a woman.
A struggling Actor dresses up as a woman in a desperate attempt to get a part.Starring Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray and Jessica Lange.Written by Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal and Don Mcguire.Directed by Sydney Pollack.This is a really funny movie!There's not a lot to not like at all.